llST 


ssionar^  Information 


LILLY  RYDER  GRACEY 


-jjptf* 


PRINCETON,    N.  J. 


Purchased  by  the  Hammill   Missionary  Fund. 


GIST 


HAND-BOOK  OF  MISSIONARY 
INFORMATION 


Pre-eminently  for  use  in  Young 
Women's  Circles 


COMPILED  AND  EDITED   BY 

LIIvLY    RYDEr'gRACEY 


CINCINNATI:  CRANSTON  &  CURTS 
NEW  YORK:  HUNT  &  EATON 


Copyright 
BY  CRANSTON  &  CURTS, 

1893. 


CONTKNTS. 


Page. 

Missions, 5 

Women  and  Missions, 11 

Mission  Fields: 

China, 15 

India, 32 

Africa, 48 

South  America, 63 

Mexico, 76 

Turkey, 89 

Syria, 98 

Persia, 108 

Burmah, 117 

Siam  and  Laos, 128 

Korea, 138 

Japan, 149 

The  Island  World, 158 

North  American  Indians, 169 

Gifts: 181 

Jim  and  the  Missionary  Meeting, 188 

The  Giving  Alphabet, 193 

Conclusion, 199 

3 


GIST 


MISSIONS. 

The  spirit  of  Missions  is  the  spirit  of  our  Mas- 
ter— the  very  genius  of  true  religion. 

— Dr.  Livingstone. 
&  .;•  & 

If  the  missionaries  sent  out  by  every  Protestant 
society  be  distributed  among  the  1,000,000,000  of 
the  pagan  world,  there  is  but  one  missionary  to  each 
200,000. 

In  the  United  States  there  is  a  gospel  minister 
to  every  800  people.  But  two  cents  of  every  dollar 
contributed  for  benevolence  go  abroad,  and  only  two 
and  one-half  per  cent  of  the  ministers. 


The  total  number  of  Christian  workers  of  all 
kinds  in  the  United  States — embracing  ordained 
ministers,  lay  preachers,  women  workers,  and  Sun- 
day-school officers  and  teachers — is  1,218,025;  or 
>ne  Christian  worker  to  each  forty-eight  persons. 
The  total  number  of  all  authorized  workers  in  the 
foreign  field,  whether  foreign  or  native,  is  37,704; 
>r  one  worker  to  each  31,322  persons. 

5 


6  Missions. 

We  have  one  Protestant  Christian  to  each  five 
persons;  in  the  foreign  field  there  is  one  Protestant 
Christian  to  each  1,566  persons. 

&  ••• «■ 

"It  is  clear,"  says  the  London  Times,  "that 
Missions  to  foreign  lands  are  at  once  the  most 
beneficent  and  the  most  disinterested  institutions 
known  among  men."  "Blot  out  the  missionary 
idea,"  says  another  exchange,  "and  you  lose  the 
key  of  the  Bible.  Destroy  all  other  proofs  of  its 
Divine  authorship,  save  the  effect  of  the  gospel  on 
the  degraded  African,  South  Sea  Islander,  or  the 
Fuegian,  and  you  will  need  no  more  convincing 
argument.  We  want  to  read  the  Scriptures  to-day 
with  the  addition  of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  down 
in  Africa,  and  over  in  India  and  China,  in  Japan, 
in  Korea,  and  Upper  Greenland. " 

"I  was  thinking  the  other  day,"  writes  a  mission- 
ary, "whether  I  could  find  out  one  single  force,  act- 
ing for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race,  that  did  not 
come  from  the  Cross — that  had  not  its  origin  from 
the  Cross.  I  can  not  find  one.  Who  discovered 
the  interior  world  of  Africa,  and  set  in  motion  the 
intellect  of  that  people?  Who  solved  the  problem 
of  preaching  liberty  to  the  women  of  India?  Who 
first  brought  into  modern  geography  the  hidden 
land  and  rivers  of  China,  and  opened  for  the  en- 
richment of  commerce  the  greatest  empire  of  the 
East?     Who  first  dared   the  cannibal    regions,  and 


Missions.  < 

converted  men  whose  appetite  was  for  blood?     Mis- 
sionaries." 

We  may  challenge  the  history  of  the  world  to 
produce  instances  of  heroism  more  exalted  or  more 
heart-stirring  than  in  many  cases  of  the  pioneer  mis- 
sionaries to  foreign  and  savage  lands. 

Every  one  knows  that  Missions  have  made 
trade  possible  and  safe  with  many  people  otherwise 
inaccessible;  that,  directly  or  indirectly,  they  benefit 
the  world  in  many  ways.  Commerce,  science,  and 
earthly  governments  have  acknowledged  their  obli- 
gations to  the  missionary,  and  secular  testimony  is 
seen  in  the  aid  given  to  various  branches  of  knowl- 
edge. "Missionary  journals  are  at  the  bottom  of  a 
large  part  of  that  multifarious  knowledge,"  says  an 
authority,  "which  permits  the  present  age  to  call 
itself  the  age  of  intelligence." 

On  the  ground  of  statistical  data,  it  has  been 
calculated  that  the  traffic  originated  by  means  ot 
mission-work  repays  tenfold  the  capital  expended. 
Take  as  an  illustration:  Among  the  Kurumans,  in 
Africa,  where  scarcely  a  pocket-handkerchief  or  a 
string  of  beads  was  bought  before  mission-work  be- 
gan,  English  goods  are  now  sold  every  year  to  the 
value  of  half  a  million  dollars. 

To  the  transforming  power  of  Christianity  there 
is  not  a  race  but  what  pays  its  tribute.  Out  of  the 
cannibals  of  the  Pacific,  the  Eskimos  of  the  frozen 


8  Missions. 

zone,  the  Indians  of  the  American  prairies,  the  Ne- 
groes and  Hottentots  of  Africa,  the  Papuans  of 
Australia  and  New  Guinea,  the  savages  of  Pata- 
gonia and  Terra  del  Fuego,  it  can  summon  a  crowd 
of  witnesses  to  testify  of  its  power  to  awaken  and 
develop  the  man  where  little  more  than  the  brute 
had  for  ages  manifested  itself.  "I  myself  have 
seen,  in  different  parts  of  the  world,"  says  an  En- 
glish traveler,  "  something  of  this  transforming 
power  of  Christianity.  I  have  watched  it  in  Eu- 
rope; I  have  seen  it  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope;  I 
have  seen  it  in  Tasmania;  I  have  seen  what  Chris- 
tianity had  done  in  the  lovely  island  of  New  Zea- 
laud;  I  have  seen  those  whose  fathers  and  grand- 
fathers were  savage  idolaters  and  ferocious  cannibals; 
I  have  seen  them  worshiping  the  one  true  God  as 
devout  and  humble  Christians, — and  where  homes 
have  been  prisons,  or  have  been  sunk  to  a  level  with 
pens  of  beasts,  I  have  seen  them  transformed  into 
Christian  homes." 

At  the  beginning  of  our  century,  the  Bible  could 
be  studied  by  only  one-fifth  of  the  earth's  popula- 
tion, and  now  it  is  translated  into  languages  that 
make  it  accessible  to  nine-tenths  of  the  world.  Said 
the  late  Lord  Cairns:  "We  are  approaching  the 
end  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and  I  am  bound  to 
say  that,  great  as  has  been  our  progress  in  arts,  in 
science,  in  manufacture,  in  the  diffusion  of  knowl- 
edge and  of  intercourse  during  this  century,  the 
progress  of   Missions   and  of   missionary  enterprise 


Missions.  9 

has  not  been  less.     The  nineteenth  century  has  been 
emphatically  a  missionary  one." 

The  kingdoms  of  the  world  are  becoming  the 
kingdom  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  "On  the 
island  of  St.  Helena,"  says  Dr.  Gracey,  "as  I  was 
walking  up  the  street  one  day,  I  saw  three  women 
sitting  under  an  umbrella  by  a  fruit-stand.  As  I 
passed  them  I  heard  them  chanting  the  doxology  of 
the  English  Church,  'Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and 
to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  As  it  was  in 
the  beginning,  is  now,  and  ever  shall  be,  world  with, 
out  end.  Amen.'  It  seemed  strange  to  hear  that, 
seventeen  hundred  miles  out  from  any  continent; 
but  the  day  is  coming  when,  not  only  from  the 
islands  of  the  sea,  but  everywhere  that  man's  foot 
has  trodden,  shall  burst  forth  that  glad  note  of 
praise,  '  Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and 
to  the  Holy  Ghost !'" 

RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 
Question.  How  many  people   in   the   world   are 
nominally  Protestant  Christians? 
Answer.  About  135,000,000. 
Q.  How  many  of  these  are  in  the  United  States? 
A.  Nearly  11,000,000. 

Q.  How  many  in  the  world  are  Mohammedans? 
A.  About  170,000,000. 
Q.   How  many  are  idol-worshipers? 
A.  About  875,000,000. 


10  Missions. 

Q.  How  many  either  know  nothing  of  Christ, 
or  are  opposed  to  him? 

A.  About  1,020,000,000,  being  three-fourths  of 
the  population  of  the  earth. 

Q.  How  much  money  is  raised  annually  in  all 
Protestant  Christendom  for  foreign  missionary  work? 

A.  About  $10,000,000. 

Q.  How  soon  could  the  world  be  evangelized? 

A.  Dr.  Pierson  is  authority  for  saying  that  "if 
each  Protestant  Church  member  would  take  thirty- 
three  human  souls  as  his  share,  and  undertake  to 
reach  one  new  soul  every  day  during  the  average 
life-time  of  a  generation,  the  whole  world  would  be 
evangelized  within  that  time." 

"A  poor  Negro  slave  from  Africa  had  such 
compassion  for  the  heathen,  such  a  desire  that  He 
who  died  for  the  nations  might  reign  over  them, 
that  in  his  mind  the  duty,  the  privilege,  the  bless- 
edness of  bearing  to  them  the  unsearchable  riches 
of  Christ  took  precedence  of  everything  else.  Some 
one,  knowing  the  old  man's  love  for  the  heathen, 
asked  him  how  he  came  to  pray  for  all  the  world, 
and  he  replied :  '  De  Lord  Jesus  Christ  put  it  in 
my  heart.  Nobody  tell  me  to  pray  for  all  de  world. 
De  Savior  put  it  in  my  heart.  He  came  no  die  for 
one,  but  for  de  whole  world;  and  me  raus'  pray  for  de 
world.'" 


WOMEN    AND    MISSIONS, 


Estimating  the  heathen  population  at  850,000,- 
000,  at  least  425,000,000  are  women  and  girls.  We 
14,000,000  Christian  women  ought  to  carry  the  gos- 
pel to  425,000,000  heathen  women. 

The  severe  restrietions  of  the  seraglio,  the  harem, 
and  the  zenana  forbid  a  man  to  approach  Eastern 
wives  and  mothers,  even  in  the  capacity  of  a  physi- 
cian; and  there  are  perhaps  four  hundred  million 
women  who,  if  reached  at  all,  must  be  reached  by 
Christian  women. 

There  are  said  to  be  300,000,000  Buddhist 
women,  with  no  hope  of  immortality  unless  in  some 
future  transmigration  they  may  be  born  again  as 
men ;  there  are  80,000,000  women  who  are  con- 
fined in  Moslem  harems, — millions  and  millions  of 
women  depending  for  the  gospel  upon  the  Protestant 
missions  of  the  world  ! 

&  .;.  «, 

The  power  behind  the  veil  is  a  mighty  one. 
"No  race,"  says  Dr.  Post,  "has  ever  risen  above 
the  condition  of  its  women  ;  nor  can  it  ever  do  so 
in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  boy  is  father  of 
the  man,  but   the  woman  is  the  mother  of  the  boy; 

U 


12  Women  and  Missions. 

and  she  determines   the   whole  social  slate  of  the 
generations  that  are  to  follow." 

The  Earl  of  Shaftesbury  said:  "The  character 
of  the  women  of  a  country  is  of  greater  importance 
to  that  country's  nobility  than  the  character  of  the 
men.  Direct  all  the  powTer  you  have  to  touch  the 
hearts  of  the  women  ;  and  if  you  can  get  women  to 
take  the  lead,  you  will  find  conversions  in  all  Ori- 
ental countries." 

In  a  company  of  cultured  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
the  question  was  recently  asked:  "What  event  of 
this  century  is  most  important  and  far-reaching  in 
its  power  for  good  to  the  human  race?" 

Answers  followed  in  quick  succession:  "Discov- 
eries in  medical  science;"  "New  interest  in  soci- 
ology;" "Explorations  in  Africa;"  "The  application 
of  electricity  to  the  service  of  man."  When  there 
w7as  a  pause,  a  lady  said:  "The  higher  education  of 
woman,  and  her  service  in  giving  the  gospel  to  the 
secluded  women  of  the  world ;  in  a  word,  the  or- 
ganization of  Woman's  Boards  of  Missions."  The 
company  was  at  first  startled  by  the  audacity  of  the 
thought;  but  a  clear  understanding  of  the  field,  of 
the  nature  and  scope  of  the  work  of  women  as  an 
evangelizing  force,  easily  vindicated  her  position. 

And  the  reflex  good  to  us  is  fascinating.  "If 
nothing  else  had  resulted  from  woman's  work  in  mis- 
sions," Dr.  Ellin  wood  says,  "  its  educational  influence 


Women  and  Missions.  13 

in  families,  the  better  impulses  with  which  it  has 
enriched  and  ennobled  womankind,  the  wide-spread 
altruistic  spirit  which  now  shows  itself  in  Zenana 
Bands,  Christian  Endeavor  Societies,  or  among  the 
Daughters  of  the  King,  would  repay  a  hundred-fold 
all  that  has  been  expended." 

The  late  president  of  Wellesley  College,  Mrs. 
Alice  Freeman  Palmer,  said,  at  a  young  ladies'  mis- 
sionary meeting:  "I  am  so  sorry  for  girls  and 
women  who  have  no  great,  absorbing  interest  out- 
side of  themselves.  In  studying  faces  at  any  social 
gathering,  one  can  hardly  fail  to  be  impressed  with 
the  different  expression  upon  the  countenance  of 
those  who  are  accustomed  to  assemble  purely  for 
pleasure,  and  those  whose  lives  are  dominated  by 
any  noble  purpose.  Girls  naturally  desire  to  be 
beautiful ;  but  if  the  beauty  is  to  be  lasting — if  at 
forty  and  sixty  they  wish  to  have  that  certain  some- 
thing in  their  personal  presence  which  makes  many 
women  of  that  age  so  attractive — they  must  live 
outside  of  themselves.  Self-culture,  sought  for  its 
own  sake,  will  never  make  a  girl  winsome.  Her 
graces,  her  accomplishments,  her  talents  of  every 
sort,  must  subserve  some  higher  good  to  be  really 
valuable  possessions.  This  is  why  an  interest  in 
foreign  missions  has  such  an  ennobling  effect  upon 
a  young  person's  character.  It  carries  thought  and 
affection  to  the  farthest  limit.     Therefore,  girls,  with 


14  Women  and  Missions. 

all  your  getting,  get  an  enthusiasm  for  this  branch 
of  Christian  work." 

The  great  uprising  of  young  men  and  women  is 
unprecedented  in  human  history.  Bishop  Thoburn 
writes:  "The  world  is  open  to  Christian  woman  as 
it  never  has  been  before.  She  can  go  almost  every- 
where, and  she  can  engage  in  almost  every  kind  of 
work.  She  is  needed  everywhere.  She  must  write; 
for  a  literature  must  be  created  for  the  women  of 
the  East.  She  must  teach ;  for  the  convert  must 
be  trained,  and  the  heathen  won.  She  must  evan- 
gelize ;  for  her  feet  alone  can  carry  the  good  tidings 
of  peace  to  her  sisters  in  their  seclusion."  Dr.  Smith 
writes:  "Our  colleges  and  higher  seminaries  for 
men  and  women,  our  theological  schools,  are  multi- 
plying year  by  year,  and  are  filled  to  overflowing 
with  the  choicest  youth  the  sun  ever  shone  upon. 
By  the  thousands  they  leave  these  schools  every 
year  to  enter  the  paths  of  duty  and  services  which 
God  appoints.  Never  did  such  opportunities  greet 
the  educated  and  foremost  youth  of  the  world.  A 
grand  service  on  a  wide  arena,  reaching  on  to 
vaster  and  more  remote  results,  to-day  awaits  our 
noble  youth  in  Turkey  and  India,  in  the  mightiest 
empires  of  the  Orient,  in  the  vast  continent  of 
Africa.* 


Mission  Fields. 


CHINA. 

Win  China  to  Christ,  and  the  most  powerful 
stronghold  of  Satan  upon  earth  will  have  fallen. 
Win  China  to  Christ,  and  the  prophetic  voices  heard 
in  the  sublime  vision  on  Patmos  may  be  quoted,  in 
ringing  tones  of  triumph,  as  fulfilled:  "The  king- 
doms of  the  world  have  become  the  kingdoms  of 
our  Lord  and  of  his  Christ."  —Mr.  Wong. 

China  is  a  continent  in  itself.  The  great  bars 
are  gone,  and  China  is  open;  not  the  rim  of  China, 
but  China.  China  is  sure  to  be  one  of  the  domi- 
nant world-powers  in  the  future.  In  working  for 
China,  we  are  working  for  all  nations  and  for  coming 
ages.  — Chauncey  Goodrich. 

•»  •••  * 

In  his  exile  at  St.  Helena,  Napoleon  passed  his 
time  in  watching  with  keen  interest  the  current  of 
affairs  throughout  the  world,  and  one  of  his  telling 
observations  was:  "When  China  is  moved,  it  will 
change  the  face  of  the  globe." 

15 


16  Mission  Fields. 

In  almost  any  aspect,  China  presents  the  greatest 
of  all  mission  fields.  With  the  single  exception  of 
Africa,  it  is  the  greatest  in  area,  being  one-third 
larger  than  all  Europe — larger  than  the  United 
States  and  half  a  dozen  Great  Britains  combined. 
It  is  the  greatest  of  all  mission  fields,  and  its  popu- 
lation numbers  400,000,000.  It  is  greatest  in  the 
history  and  character  of  its  people.  The  history  of 
China  runs  back  uninterruptedly  over  the  rise  and 
fall  of  all  the  great  nations  of  earth — of  Home, 
Greece,  Assyria,  Israel,  Egypt.  She  was  a  great 
nation,  -with  settled  government  and  laws,  before 
Abraham  went  out  from  Ur  of  the  Chaldees.  Her 
empire  was  nearly  two  thousand  years  old  when 
Isaiah  penned  his  prophecy  of  her  future  conversion 
to  God;  and  her  people  were  prosperous  a  thou- 
sand years  before  Komulus  dreamed  of  building 
Rome. 

"  We  boast  of  60,000,000  of  people,"  says  Bishop 
Warren;  "what  then  must  we  think  of  the  400,- 
000,000  population  of  China — one-third  of  the  hu- 
man race?  The  country  had  its  singers  long  before 
David,  and  thirteen  centuries  before  blind  old 
Homer  sang.  Its  history  extends  over  four  thou- 
sand years;  nevertheless  the  country  was  but  in  the 
dawn  of  civilization.  The  Chinese  are  a  nation  of 
poets  and  rhetoricians.  They  are  comparatively  a 
chaste  people,  and  love  their  children.  They  are 
generous,  and  contribute  much  for  religious  pur- 
poses.     Why,    then,   do    they   need    Christianity? 


China.  17 

Because    every    man    in   China   has  at   least  three 

religions,  and  each  two.  of  these  is  worse  than  the 

other." 

♦1-  +  -K- 

Look  for  a  moment  at  the  map  of  China  proper. 
It  is  divided  into  eighteen  provinces.  Six  of  these 
that  border  on  the  sea,  and  one  inland  province — 
Hupeh — have  been  longer  and  better  evangelized 
than  the  remaining  eleven.  A  very  large  majority, 
there  fore,  both  of  existing  missionaries  and  converts, 
are  to  be  found  in  these  seven  provinces.  "But 
passing  from  these,"  says  Miss  Guinness,  "glance 
at  the  following  facts  respecting  eleven  provinces 
and  their  surpassing  need :  At  a  low  estimate  there 
must  be  considerably  over  one  hundred  and  fifty 
millions  of  souls  in  the  vast  cities,  busy  market- 
towns,  and  thickly  scattered  villages  of  this  region. 
To  get  some  slight  idea  of  how  unreached  these 
millions  are,  think  for  the  present  of  cities  only — 
the  important  walled  cities,  the  governing  cities  of 
each  province — where  the  cultured  and  ruling  classes 
reside.  I  give  them  according  to  the  latest  statis- 
tics. The  province  of  Kansuh  has  77  such  cities; 
72  are  without  any  missionary.  Shen-si,  possessing 
88  such  cities,  has  86  without  a  missionary.  Shan-si, 
having  119  of  these  cities,  has  92  without  a  missionary. 
Ho-nan  has  105  such  cities,  and  not  one  of  them 
has  a  missionary.  Gan-huei  has  58  such  cities,  and 
50  are  still  without  a  missionary.  Kiang-si  has  74 
such  cities,  and  63  are  yet  without  a  missionary. 
2 


18  Mission  Fields. 

The  vast  province  of  Szecheran,  out  of  140  such 
cities,  still  shows  130  without  a  missionary.  Far-ofl 
Yunan,  having  89  such  cities,  has  85  without  a 
missionary.  Kiver-Chan  has  56  such  cities,  and  54 
are  utterly  unreached  by  the  true  light.  Finally, 
the  provinces  of  Hunan  and  Kwaug-si,  with  176 
such  cities,  have  as  yet  no  missionary  within  their 
borders.  Nine  hundred  and  thirteen  walled  cities 
in  these  11  provinces  alone,  to  say  nothing  of  all 
the  other  large  towns  and  countless  villages  they 
represent — what  a  sphere! — 913  cities  without  a 
single  missionary!  There  is  no  time  to  lose,  be- 
cause souls  are  passing  out  into  the  darkness  con- 
tinually— men  and  women  for  whom  Christ  died, 
and  who  have  never  heard  his  name.  Fourteen 
hundred  every  hour,  one  million  every  month,  they 
die  in  China,  without  God.  Think  over  it!  weep 
over  it!  pray  over  it!" 

"We,  in  America,  are  mora  than  60,000,000, 
with  an  evangelical  church  for  every  six  hundred 
people  in  the  land.  In  China  not  one  in  four  hun- 
dred ever  heard  the  name  of  Christ,  or  as  yet  had 
the  opportunity  of  hearing  that  name.  The  rate 
given  is  one  worker  to  every  818,000  souls.  Con- 
sider the  one  province  of  Chili,"  says  the  Missionary 
Herald,  "which  has  nearly  the  same  area  as  the 
State  of  Florida,  but  with  a  population  equal  to 
that  of  all   the  Slates  east  of  the  Mississippi,  with 


China.  19 

the  exception  of  New  York,  Ohio,  and  Illinois. 
The  weak  Protestant  missionary  force  who  are  in- 
trusted with  its  evangelization  numbers  barely  forty, 
or  one  missionary  to  every  675,000  souls!  While 
this  appeal  is  crossing  the  ocean  to  you,  one  and  a 
quarter  millions  more  of  China's  population  will 
have  sunk  into  Christless  graves;  and  for  each  min- 
ute you  delay  heeding  her  needs,  twenty-four  im- 
mortal souls,  for  whom  Christ  shed  his  blood,  are 
passing  beyond  your  power  to  give  them  aid.  The 
cry  for  help  comes  from  the  false  creeds  and  no 
creeds  of  all  classes  alike.  It  is  the  inarticulate 
wail  of  infants  coming  to  an  untimely  end  because 
perhaps  deformed,  or  because  they  are  of  the  female 
sex.  It  is  the  sobbing  of  women,  who,  suffering  as 
a  slave  or  beast,  know  not  the  meaning  of  woman- 
hood. It  is  the  plea  of  loveless  marriage  and  cruel 
concubinage.  It  is  the  cry  of  a  nation's  outcast 
poor,  lame,  halt,  and  blind.  It  is  the  unspoken  and 
undefined  longing  of  myriads  of  souls,  who  are  feel- 
ing after  a  higher  Being,  and  striving  toward  him 
along  the  road  of  pilgrimage,  idolatry,  and  asceti- 
cism, that  they  may  escape  hell.  Out  of  Asia's 
night  comes  this  cry  for  the  true  Light  of  Asia;  and 
that  cry  is  echoed  back  from  the  Judean  hills,  where 
long  ago  a  crucified  and  ascending  Savior,  not  only 
as  his  final  act  stretched  out  his  hands  in  blessing 
on  the  earth,  but  who  also  blessed  the  nation  with 
a  great  command  and  promise:  'Go  ye,  therefore, 
and  make  disciples  of  all  the  nations,  baptizing  them 


20  Mission  Fields. 

in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all 
things  whatsoever  I  commanded  you;  and  lo!  I  am 
with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world.'" 

•»  •••  * 

About  twelve  thousand  Chinese  women,  it  is 
said,  pass  away  each  day,  having  never  heard  the 
gospel — without  hope,  without  God. 

&  •••  & 

We  are  apt  to  suppose  that  the  murder  of  in- 
fant girls  in  China  must  now  be  a  thing  of  the 
past — shamed  away  by  missions  and  Western  civil- 
ization. Unhappily  this  is  not  the  case.  It  is  af- 
firmed by  those  who  have  been  long  in  China  that 
at  least  200,000  babies  are  brutally  killed,  in  vari- 
ous ways,  every  year  in  that  empire  to  get  them 
out  of  the  way.  In  every  large  city  in  China  there 
are  asylums  for  the  care  of  orphans,  supported  and 
conducted  by  foreigners,  which  save  yearly  from 
slaughter  tens  of  thousands  of  female  infants. 

— Messenger. 
&  •••  «• 

The  moral  degradation  and  spiritual  darkness  of 
the  women  in  their  heathen  homes  can  not  be  de- 
scribed. Their  social  and  physical  condition  is  also 
distressing,  especially  in  those  large  districts  of  the 
empire  which  have  suffered  much  from  rebellion, 
famines,   and   destructive   floods.      Dr.    Duuthwaite 


China.  21 

says:  "Men  can  not  reach  the  women;  women  must 
do  that.  I  can  not  speak  much  about  them;  but 
let  me  give  you  one  instance  that  will  show  you 
how  much  they  need  the  elevating  influence  of  the 
gospel.  A  woman,  who  afterwards  became  a  Chris- 
tian, told  my  wife  that  she  had  herself,  with  her 
own  hand,  destroyed  seven  female  children. "  "No 
class  of  people,"  says  another  missionary,  "  ever 
needed  the  comfort  of  the  gospel  more  than  Chinese 
women, — ground  down  by  hardships  and  poverty, 
their  homes  bare  and  cheerless,  their  lives  barren 
and  hopeless,  their  thoughts  and  affections  warped 
and  misdirected."  In  China,  as  in  all  Oriental 
countries,  the  idea  that  woman  exists  only  for  the 
convenience  of  man,  and  scarcely  shares  the  same 
nature,  is  thoroughly  fixed  in  the  national  mind. 
In  strict  harmony  with  this  historical  truth,  the 
present  religious  systems  of  Asia  all  give  women 
an  important  but  debasing  position  both  in  "their 
doctrines  and  their  sacred  observances. 

A  girl,  therefore,  from  her  birth,  experiences  the 
sinister  influence  of  these  prevailing  ideas,  and  is 
consequently  tormented  by  a  sense  of  the  horror  of 
inferiority  and  comparative  worthlessness,  and  prays 
most  earnestly  that  in  the  next  stage  of  existence 
she  may  be  a  man.  When  girls  are  permitted  to 
live,  it  is  customary  for  the  father  almost  entirely  to 
ignore  them.  A  father  will  spare  no  pains  to  in- 
sure the  happiness  of  a  son,  but  custom  prevents 
his  ever  showing  a  daughter  any  of  those  attentions 


22  Mission  Fields. 

so  dear  to  the  heart  of  a  child.  In  the  maritime 
provinces  infanticide  is  practiced  to  a  fearful  ex- 
tent among  all  classes  Heathen  fathers  and 
mothers  love  their  children ;  but  the  necessities  of 
the  situation,  and  the  corresponding  influences  of. 
heathenism,  seem  so  to  change  and  deform  their 
moral  nature  that  the  systematic  commission  of  the 
crime  becomes  possible.  Almost  the  only  reason 
assigned  by  the  Chinese  for  destroying  their  infant 
daughters  is,  the  expense  and  trouble  of  raising  such 
useless  beings. 

When  a  Chinese  girl  escapes  the  perils  sur- 
rounding her  at  birth,  she  is  taught,  as  soon  as  her 
age  permits,  to  weave,  spin,  sew,  to  cook,  and  care 
for  the  younger  children.  After  a  few  years  she 
must  be  trained  for  a  field-hand  or  a  boat-woman. 
Her  lot  henceforth  is  a  hard  one.  She  must  dig  in 
the  soil,  tug  at  the  oar,  or  stagger  along  under 
burdens  out  of  all  proportion  to  her  strength. 

If  the  daughter  of  a  man  of  wealth,  she  must 
be  trained  for  a  lady.  Although  she  is  to  be  a 
prisoner  for  life,  she  must  be  a  well- trained  and 
well-dressed  prisoner.  Destined  to  a  life  of  idleness, 
or  at  the  best,  frivolous  occupations,  she  must  be 
taught  to  bear  the  curse  in  strict  accordance  with 
time-honored  customs.  The  hideous  wrong  of  sell- 
ing young  girls  to  the  highest  matrimonial  bidder, 
and  the  sanctioned  tyranny  wielded  over  the  Chinese 
wife  by  parents-in-law  and  others,  have  greatly  de- 
graded the  Oriental  woman. 


China.  23 

Speaking  of  foot-binding,  a  missionary  says  she 
has  often  been    asked    whether   the  custom  of  foot- 
binding  was   not  dispensed   with   in   China.      Some 
people  seem  to  think  that  because  Christianity  has 
made   some   small   headway  there,  the  practice  has 
been  given  up.     It  is  not  so.     The  only  women  who 
are  exempt  from  it  are  the  Hakka  women,  and  the 
women  of   the   imperial   palace   who  belong  to   the 
dynasty   which  at  present   rules  over   the   country. 
All   the   rest  of  the   women   go  upon  crippled  feet. 
One  little  child,  who  belonged  to  a  very  good  fam- 
ily, was  obliged,   by   being   betrothed    into   another 
rich   family,    to    have    her   feet   bound    exceedingly 
small.     The   mother    was   a   heathen,   the   father   a 
Christian.    The  mother  sent  for  a  woman  who  was  very 
skillful  in  the  matter,  and  the  feet  of  the  poor  child 
were  bound   with  a   long   linen    bandage— bound  so 
tightly  and  in  such  a  way  that  the  bones  of  the  feet 
were  broken.     The  poor  little  child  was  in  an  agony 
of  pain,  and  besought  her   mother  to  be   released; 
but  her  mother   only   scolded    her.     To    her   father 
the  child  said:   "I  am  suffering  so   much;    do  take 
me  up  in  your  arms!"     The   father    took  the  little 
one  up,  and  she  then  asked  him   to   pray  to  Jesus 
that   she   might   go  to  the  ladies'  school,  where  the 
children's  feet  were  unbound.     The  father  did  pray 
to  Jesus  to  soothe  the  agony  of  his  little  child;  and 
he  tenderly  walked  up  and  down  the  room  with  her 
in  his  arms.     Presently  he  felt  the  child's  head  fall 
heavily  on  his  shoulder;    and  when  he  looked  at  the 


24  Mission  Fields. 

little  face  he  saw  that  the  eyes  were  closed,  and  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  had  taken  the  little  spirit  to  be  with 
hiin.  This  is  only  one  case  of  many.  Many  chil- 
dren suffer  death  from  this  cruel  practice. 

A  Chinese  woman  was  dying,  and  a  missionary 
tried  to  reveal  a  Savior  to  her  fading  vision.  "But 
not  for  me,"  she  moaned;  "no  one  would  care  so 
much  for  us."  Again  and  again  the  assurance  of 
salvation  was  repeated,  and  at  last  she  grasped  the 
wondrous  truth  that  the  Lord  Jesus  died  for  her; 
and  then,  with  one  supreme  effort,  she  exclaimed : 
"  Why  doesn't  some  one  tell  the  women  of  my  prov- 
ince?" and  she  was  gone.  "Ah,  no  wonder,"  says 
the  missionary;  "the  remembrance  of  millions  of 
down-trodden  women  rested  like  a  burden  upon  her 
newly  awakened  soul!  Shall  we  feel  it  less  who 
have  known  so  long  the  sweetness  of  God's  grace? 
Absorbed  by  the  pleasures  of  life,  and  even  by  the 
duties  that  lie  near  at  hand,  we  are  apt  to  forget 
the  mute  appeal  of  the  heathen  world." 

There  are  29,000,000  idolaters  in  North  China, 
with  one  missionary  to  every  million.  China  annu- 
ally gives  a  sum  equal  to  $300,000,000  for  idolatry, 
while  the  whole  world  of  Protestant  Christianity 
gives  $12,000,000  a  year  to  extend  Christ's  kingdom. 


China.  25 

The  Mission  Field  says:  "Twenty  thousand 
dollars  are  spent,  in  a  certain  month  of  the  year, 
on  one  temple  alone  in  the  Canton  province.  The 
people  burn  up  and  waste  on  puerile  absurdities 
enough  money  to  build  twenty  universities,  with  an 
endowment  of  $10,000,000  each;  and  to  erect  one 
hundred  thousand  chapels,  with  a  seating  capacity 
of  one  hundred  millions.  Such  is  the  problem  that 
has  to  be  solved  in  China." 

•9*  •••  -te 

During  the  past  thirty-three  years  the  number 
of  Christians  has  increased  eighty-fold;  and  last 
year  Chinese  Christians  were  reported  to  have  given 
$44,000  for  the  spread  of  the  gospel  in  their  own 
land;  and,  encouragingly  speaking  of  the  women, 
one  says:  "But  the  dawn  is  reaching  them  in  their 
homes — the  idol,  the  amulet,  and  the  written  charm 
are  fading  in  their  power;  and  the  all-protecting 
wing  of  Him  who  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations 
that  dwell  upon  the  face  of  the  earth  is  gradually 
extending  its  benign  shadow  over  the  dreary,  bur- 
dened daughters  of  the  broad  East." 

People  do  not  appreciate  what  staunch  Chris- 
tians the  majority  of  converts  from  heathenism  make. 
Scores  in  China  have  been  persecuted,  exiled,  cru- 
elly beaten,  and  partially  starved.  "I  have  seen 
men,"  says  Mr.  Taylor,  of  China,  "who  have   lost 


26  Mission  Fields. 

their  literary  degree;  men  who  have  been  beaten 
openly  by  the  mandarins,  and  put  to  shame  for 
Christ's  sake;  men  who  have  lost  their  property." 
Another  man  who  had  abandoned  his  idols  had  to 
endure  great  hardships.  His  relatives  beat  him  un- 
mercifully; they  threatened  to  take  from  him  his 
house  and  laud,  and  they  said:  "If  you  do  not 
give  up  this  Jesus  we  will  kill  you."  Said  he: 
"You  can  take  my  house,  you  can  take  my  land, 
you  can  take  my  life,  if  you  will;  but  I  will  never 
give  up  Christ!  I  will  never  give  up  Christ!" 

♦1-  •••  «- 

The  following  true  story  is  an  illustration  of  the 
lives  of  many  women  in  China,  and  is  taken  from 
"Pagoda  Shadows."  The  heroine,  as  we  may  justly 
call  her,  says:  "I  was  boru  at  Koi  Tan,  a  village 
in  Po  Leng.  My  father  was  a  storekeeper,  and  I 
was  the  youngest  of  seven  children.  When  seven 
years  old  I  was  betrothed,  for  two  pounds,  to  a  man 
at  Nam  Leng,  a  village  two  miles  from  my  home. 
I  had  never  seen  the  man,  nor  any  of  his  family. 
I  took  nothing  from  home  with  me  but  the  tunic 
and  trousers  I  wore.  My  mother  and  go-between 
led  me  to  his  house,  and  left  me  there.  I  jumped 
up  and  down,  and  screamed  to  go  back  with  my 
mother.  My  husband's  mother  told  me  not  to  cry, 
for  my  home  was  to  be  with  her  henceforth,  and 
my  husband's  grandmother  carried  me  on  her  back 
to  please  and  quiet  me;  but  I  kept  crying,  more  or 


China.  27 

less,  for  years.  Indeed,  I  never  really  stopped  cry- 
ing until  I  had  children  of  my  own.  In  the  family 
there  were  my  husband's  grandmother,  grandfather, 
father,  mother,  uncles,  aunts,  five  brothers,  and  four 
sisters-in-law.  I  was  told  which  man  was  to  be  my 
husband;  and,  though  he  was  handsome,  I  immedi- 
ately disliked  him,  because  he  seemed  so  old  to  me, 
being  nine  years  older  than  I.  I  did  not  see  my 
own  mother  again  for  three  years,  for  she  was  afraid 
[  would  cry  and  be  discontented  if  I  saw  her. 
During  the  day  I  spooled  the  yarn  which  the  older 
ones  wove  into  cloth.  At  this  I  worked  from  day- 
light till  dark,  only  stopping  to  eat.  I  had  plenty 
to  eat,  and  was  whipped  only  when  I  nodded  over 
my  spools.  Once  a  year  one  of  my  brothers  came 
to  see  if  I  was  well.  He  staid  but  a  few  minutes 
when  he  came,  because  it  might  make  me  home- 
sick if  he  talked  much  with  me.  When  I  was 
eleven  years  old  I  went  to  my  father's  house  and 
staid  four  months,  and  did  the  same  each  year  there- 
after until  I  was  married.  All  this  time  I  never 
spoke  to  my  betrothed  husband,  and  he  only  spoke 
to  me  to  tell  me  something.  At  fourteen,  when  his 
mother  told  me  to  do  so,  I  became  his  wife.  When 
my  husband  wanted  me  to  do  anything,  he  said, 
1  Here,  you !'  and  of  course  I  knew  he  meant  me. 
When  I  was  sixteen  I  had  a  little  girl,  and  then 
another,  and  another.  The  third  I  strangled  when 
it  was  born;  for  I  was  frightened,  and  knew  I 
should  be  hated  for  having  so  many  girls.     My  hus- 


28  Mission  Fields. 

band  was  a  good-natured  man,  and  he  was  not  very 
hard  toward  me.  In  all  the  forty  years  I  lived  with 
him,  he  beat  me  only  four  or  five  times.  There  are 
not  ten  men  in  a  thousand  in  China  who  do  not 
beat  their  wives  at  all.  When  I  was  fifty-four  my 
husband  died,  and  I  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  wor- 
shiping; but  I  got  sick,  and  had  no  strength.  My 
nephew,  who  had  heard  of  the  true  doctrine,  used 
to  come  to  see  me,  and  tell  me  that  there  was  only 
one  God,  and  he  was  everywhere.  Little  by  little 
I  believed  what  he  said.  As  soon  as  I  believed,  I 
destroyed  the  censers  we  used  in  worshiping  false 
gods.  My  sons  saw  me  taking  them  out  of  the 
house,  and  asked  me  if  I  was  not  afraid  to  do  it; 
but  I  told  them  that  what  I  had  myself  set  up  I  could 
myself  take  down,  and  they  said  no  more.  Then  I 
prayed  that  I  might  have  strength  given  me  to  go 
and  be  baptized;  and  when  the  next  communion 
season  came,  I  told  my  nephew  I  was  going  with 
him  to  Swatow.  At  that  time  he  was  the  only 
Christian  in  Po  Leng;  and  his  mother  and  wife 
beat  him  for  worshiping  God,  and  their  neighbors 
applauded  them.  He  said  I  was  too  weak,  and 
must  not  think  of  going  to  Swatow;  but  I  got  off 
my  bed,  and  I  w7alked  very  slowly  the  whole  forty 
miles;  and  when  I  got  here,  the  people  said  a  dead 
woman  had  come.  Since  then  I  have  been  in  all 
the  Po  Leng  villages,  speaking  the  gospel;  and  can 
walk  fifteen  or  twenty  miles  a  day." 


China.  29 

A  beautiful  story  is  told  of  a  child  in  an  or- 
phanage somewhere.  They  were  having  supper  in 
the  dining-hall ;  and  the  teacher  gave  thanks  in  the 
ordinary  way,  before  the  children  began  their  meals, 
saying:  "Come,  Lord  Jesus,  and  be  our  Guest  to- 
night, and  bless  the  mercies  which  tJTou  hast  pro- 
vided." One  little  boy  looked  up,  and  said: 
"Teacher,  you  always  ask  the  Lord  Jesus  to  come, 
but  he  never  comes.  Will  he  ever  come?"  "0 
yes;  if  you  will  only  hold  on  in  faith,  he  will  be 
sure  to  come!"  "Very  well,"  said  the  little  boy, 
"  I  will  set  a  chair  for  him  beside  me  here,  to  be 
ready  when  he  comes."  And  so  the  meal  pro- 
ceeded. By  and  by  there  came  a  rap  at  the  door, 
and  there  was  ushered  in  a  poor,  half-frozen  ap- 
prentice. He  was  taken  to  the  fire,  and  his  hands 
wanned.  Then  he  was  asked  to  partake  of  the 
meal ;  and  where  should  he  go  but  to  the  chair 
which  the  little  boy  had  provided?  And,  as  he  sat 
down  there,  the  little  boy  looked  up,  with  a  light  in 
his  eye,  and  said:  "Teacher,  I  see  it  now!  The 
Lord  Jesus  was  not  able  to  come  himself,  and  he 
sent  this  poor  man  in  his  place.     Is  n't  that  it?" 

Ay,  that  is  just  it!  The  Lord  Jesus  isn't  able, 
according  to  his  plan3  for  this  world,  to  come  per- 
sonally yet  among  us,  but  he  has  sent  these  Chinese 
and  heathen  to  make  appeal  in  his  behalf  to  us; 
and  who  among  us  will  set  a  chair  for  him? 


30  Mission  Fields. 


RESPONSIVE   EXERCISES. 

Question.  How  far  back  does  Chinese  history 
extend  ? 

Answer.  It  extends  to  2,500  years  B.  C. 

Q.  When  did  the  Chinese  begin  to  write  books? 

A.  Probably  before  they  first  moved  to  China 
from  the  region  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea. 

Q.   What  are  two  of  their  largest  literary  works? 

A.  A  dictionary,  in  5,020  volumes;  and  the  en- 
cyclopedia, in  22,937  volumes. 

Q.  What  religions  have  the  Chinese? 

A.  Confucianism,  Buddhism,  and  Taoism. 

Q.  What  is  the  real  and  one  universal  religion 
of  China? 

A.  Ancestral  worship.  At  the  ceremonies  ob- 
served in  this  worship,  candles  and  sticks  of  incense 
are  lighted,  and  cooked  rice,  meat,  and  vegetables 
are  placed  on  tables  before  the  ancestral  tablets. 

Q.  What  does  the  Bible  say  about  future  life? 

A.  There  shall  be  no  night  there;  and  they 
need  no  candle,  neither  light  of  the  sun ;  for  the 
Lord  giveth  them  light;  and  they  shall  reign  for- 
ever and  ever.  They  shall  hunger  no  more,  neither 
thirst  any  more;  neither  shall  the  sun  light  on  them, 
nor  any  heat.  For  the  Lamb  which  is  in  the  midst 
of  the  throne  shall  feed  them,  and  shall  lead  them 
unto  living  fountains  of  water;  and  God  shall  wipe 
away  all  tears  from  their  eyes. 


China.  81 

Q.  Describe  the  religions. 

A.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  belief  and  prac- 
tices of  heathen  people.  But  there  are  two  things 
connected  with  the  Chinese  religion  which  make  it 
to  differ  from  that  of  most  other  pagan  nations. 
The  Chinese  do  not  offer  human  sacrifices,  nor  make 
vice  a  part  of  their  religion.  In  the  State  religion, 
the  emperor  is  the  worshiper.  He  confesses,  once  a 
year,  his  sins  and  the  sins  of  his  400,000,000  people. 
In  the  worship  of  Confucius,  all  the  officers,  scholars, 
and  school-boys  have  a  part.  There  are  1,560  tem- 
ples dedicated  to  this  sage,  and  2,700  pieces  of  silk, 
and  62,000  pigs,  rabbits,  sheep,  and  deer,  besides 
fruits  and  vegetables,  are  sacrificed  annually  upon 
their  altars.  The  people  generally,  and  especially 
the  women,  bow  in  fear  to  the  many  Taoist  and 
Buddhist  gods.  But  everybody,  from  the  emperor 
on  his  throne  to  the  poorest  coolie  in  the  empire, 
shares  in  the  precious  "ancestral  worship;"  and  the 
most  serious  charge  that  can  be  made  against  a 
Chinaman  is  to  say  that  he  has  given  it  up. 

Q.  What  institutions  are  found  in  China  that 
are  exceptional  in  heathen  lands? 

A.  Benevolent  institutions;  as,  asylums  for  old 
men;  orphan  asylums;  asylums  for  foundlings, 
where  cast-off  girl-babies  are  cared  for,  and  finally 
sold  to  the  poor  for  wives.  There  are  also  asylums 
for  animals,  where  they  are  supposed  to  rise  in  the 
scale  of  beings,  so  as  probably  to  be  men  in  the 
next  birth. 


32  Mission  Fields. 

Q.   Give  some  account  of  progress  made. 

A.  Fifty  years  ago  it  was  a  capital  offense  for  a, 
Chinese  to  be  a  Christian ;  now  the  gospel  can  be 
preached  with  more  liberty  than  in  many  parts  of 
Europe.  Twenty -five  years  ago  there  were  not, 
perhaps,  more  than  100  missionaries  iu  China,  from 
all  societies  in  Europe  and  America,  all  told;  and 
not  more  than  3,000  converts.  During  that  period 
they  have  increased  more  than  twelve  times;  and 
there  are  now  nearly  1,400  missionaries,  and  over 
100,000  Christians — men  and  women  who  have 
abandoned  idolatry,  and  serve  Christ,  and  him 
only. 


INDIA. 

India  has  thousands  of  towns  and  cities,  with  a 
population  ranging  from  5,000  upward,  that  have 
never  had  a  single  missionary. 

Only  one  Protestant  missionary  is  found  to  every 
250,000  of  the  population.  Of  the  entire  popula- 
tion— allowing  a  generation  to  pass  away  every  third 
of  a  century — twenty  thousand  die  each  day,  over 
eight  hundred  each  hour,  fifteen  every  minute,  one 
every  four  seconds,  of  the  year.  These,  for  whom 
Christ  died,  are  born,  live,  and  die,  without  hope 
in  hiin. 


India.  S3 

In  Medical  Missionary  Record,  Miss  Wilder  writes: 
"With  our  present  staff  of  missionaries,  we  have 
only  one  worker  to  every  135,000  of  the  popula- 
tion. In  Kolhapur  State  alone  there  are  1,097  vil- 
lages, many  of  which  have  a  population  of  several 
thousand.  Preaching  thrice  daily  in  three  different 
villages,  it  would  take  a  missionary  a  whole  year  to 
proclaim  the  gospel  to  the  village  population  of  that 
single  State,  to  say  nothing  of  the  thousands  of  vil- 
lages within  the  bounds  of  the  field.  Rutuagiri 
contains  a  population  of  at  least  one  million,  all 
without  a  single  missionary.  Apportion  one  to  every 
50,000,  and  the  field  would  require  twenty  mission- 
aries. In  adjoining  States  we  have  over  2,500,000 
people,  humanly  speaking,  dependent  upon  three 
missionary  families  for  the  '  bread  of  life.'  Within 
the  limits  of  our  field  there  are  five  large  towns, 
varying  in  population  from  8,000  to  24,000  each, 
and  unoccupied  by  any  missionary.  One  hundred 
and  fifty  souls  are  passing  into  eternity  from  this 
field  every  twenty-four  hours — dying  without  Christ. 
Even  if  we  may  lawfully  say  that  there  are  500,000 
native  Christians  in  India  to-day,  we  have  to  re- 
member that  these  are  but  a  five-hundredth  part  of 
the  250,000,000  people." 

•»••• -te 

In  India  only  one  man  in  42  and  one  woman  in 
858   can   read   or  write.      Only  about  sixteen  per 
cent  of  the  boys  and  one  per  cent  of  the  girls,  of 
school-age,  are  in  school.      —Gospel  in  all  Lands. 
3 


34  Mission  Fields. 

The  Government  has  prohibited  infanticide,  yet 
there  is  a  regular  system  secretly  maintained,  for  the 
purpose  of  concealing  it,  which  so  far  baffles  detec- 
tion, that  there  is  scarcely  a  village  whose  shrine  is 
not  desecrated  by  this  form  of  murder.  The  author 
of  "Women  of  the  Orient"  says:  "As  the  result 
of  careful  inquiry,  while  in  India,  I  am  certain 
that,  at  the  very  lowest  estimate  admissible,  fully 
one-third  of  the  girls  born  among  the  natives  of  that 
country  are  still  secretly  murdered." 

■3*  -r  •* 

India  has  an  area  as  large  as  that  of  the*United 
States  east  of  the  Rocky  Mountains.  It  is  calcu- 
lated that  its  population  is  about  one-fifth  of  the 
whole  human  race.  The  country  contains  more  peo- 
ple than  all  Africa  and  South  America  combined; 
more  than  all  Europe,  excluding  Russia;  nearly  ten 
times  the  population  of  England. 

India  boasts  of  a  literature  that  dates  back  a 
thousand  years  before  the  revival  of  letters  in  mod- 
ern Europe;  of  sacred  books  and  epic  song  of  an 
antiquity  not  surpassed  by  the  Pentateuch  or  the 
Book  of  Job.  The  results  of  its  religious  and  edu- 
cational systems  are  seen  in  the  ignorance,  poverty, 
and  wretchedness  of  the  mass  of  the  people.  If 
there  are  a  few  men  in  the  country  whose  wealth 
vies  with  that  of  the  Vanderbilts  and  Rothschilds, 
it  has  40,000,000  so  poor  as  to  lie  down  hungry  at 
night  on  the  bare  ground.     The  enterprise  of  the 


India.  35 

country  has  been  so  stifled  that  the  average  income 
per  individual  is  less  than  that  of  any  other  civilized 
race.  Such  is  the  heathenism  in  one  of  the  richest 
countries  of  the  world. 

Out  of  the  whole  population,  which  is  put  at 
250,000,000  in  round  numbers,  not  more  than  five 
or  six  per  cent  can  read  or  write.  There  the  over- 
whelming mass  of  the  population  are  still  steeped 
in  ignorance,  and  are  living  as  their  forefathers  did. 

The  city  of  Calcutta  has  a  student  population  of 
15,000,  and  its  college  men  are  peers  of  their  Amer- 
ican brethren.  From  this  cultivated  class  you  can 
descend  until  you  find  whole  villages  where  no  per- 
son can  read  a  word  of  any  language. 

The  inhabitants  are,  without  a  doubt,  the  most 
religious  people  on  the  earth.  From  the  highest  to 
the  lowest,  all  are  worshipers.  The  mosques  and 
temples  are  as  numerous  in  proportion  as  churches 
are  in  Christian  countries.  Everything,  even  the 
most  minute  act  in  the  lives  of  Hindus,  is  con- 
nected with  their  religion.  Their  simplicity  and 
earnestness  in  their  religious  rites,  and  their  devo- 
tion to  their  false  gods,  are  a  constant  reproach  to 
infidelity,  and  the  indifference  of  people  who  profess 
to  believe  in  and  worship  the  only  true  God. 

The  people  are  sunken  in  idolatry.  The  country 
has  50,000,000  Mohammedans,  and  many  of  the 
gross  vices  of  native  society  owe  their  strength  to 
the  social  usages  of  this  part  of  the  population. 


36  Mission  Fields. 

The  "Orient  and  Its  People"  gives  some  of  the 
customs  prevalent  in  India  to-day,  and  says: 

"The  first  act  of  Hindus,  on  awaking  in  the 
morning,  is  to  pray;  and  another  of  the  earliest 
duties  of  the  day  is  to  cleanse  the  teeth,  which  they 
do  with  a  twig  broken  from  a  tree  on  their  way  to 
the  well.  Their  religious  books  contain  special  in- 
structions as  to  the  kind  of  twig  to  be  used,  its 
length,  and  the  manner  of  using  it.  The  more  rigid 
and  scrupulous  Brahmins  never  eat  without  bathing, 
and  all  good  Hindus  bathe  at  least  once  a  day. 
The  morning  routine  of  purification,  sacrifice,  and 
eating  being  complete,  they  set  forth  on  the  day's 
business,  ready  to  lie  and  cheat  as  the  needs  of  their 
purses  may  dictate. 

"When  Hindus  of  wealth  make  calls,  they  take 
with  them  as  many  servants  as  their  means  will 
allow.  As  they  approach  the  house,  one  of  the 
servants  runs  on  in  advance,  and  informs  a  servant 
of  the  house  that  his  master  is  coming.  The  head- 
servant  of  the  establishment  goes  into  his  master's 
presence,  and  informs  him;  then  returns,  and  says: 
"The  door  is  open;  the  master  says,  4  Salaam!'" — 
that  is,  "Peace!"  It  is  a  mark  of  great  impolite- 
ness for  a  visitor  to  leave  before  the  host  signifies 
that  the  call  is  long  enough. 

"The  methods  of  working  and  living  seem  most 
wrong-handed  and  unnatural.  Tailors  hold  their 
work  with  their  toes;  cooks  sit  on  the  floor,  hold  a 
butcher-knife  erect  in  their  toes,  and,  grasping  the 


India.  37 

piece  of  meat  with  both  hands,  cut  off  a  beef- 
steak or  a  mutton-chop.  Shoes  are  never  worn  in 
the  house,  and  seldom  in  dry  weather;  on  a  long 
journey  they  are  carried  under  the  arm.  Children 
are  never  praised,  lest  some  bad  spirit  should  desire 
their  destruction.  Helpless  baby-girls  are  often 
ruthlessly  murdered;  while  it  would  be  considered  a 
crime  to  shoot  a  monkey  or  kill  a  cow. 

"  Lying  is  no  reproach  to  a  man,  only  a  matter  of 
business;  perjury  and  bribery  a  matter  of  course. 
Deaths  and  funerals  are  the  occasion  of  some  pecul- 
iar customs.  The  Hindu's  ambition  is  to  die  by  the 
river  Ganges ;  and  such  a  history  as  it  has  could  be 
revealed  by  no  other  stream  in  the  wide  world. 
Running  a  course  of  1,500  miles,  it  receives  at 
every  point  the  most  devout  adoration.  The  touch 
of  its  waters—the  sight  of  them— is  supposed  to  take 
away  all  sin.  When  a  man's  life  is  despaired  of,  he 
is  carried  on  his  light  bamboo  bedstead  to  the 
Ganges  or  the  nearest  sacred  river.  When  the 
river  is  reached,  the  bedstead  is  placed  so  that  the 
feet  of  the  sick  person  are  in  the  water.  When 
the  poor  fellow  is  nearly  gone,  the  holy  water  is 
poured  down  his  throat.  After  death,  the  body  is 
anointed ;  and  oil  and  pitch  are  poured  on  a  pile  of 
wood,  and  the  body  burned  on  it.  The  next  best 
thing  to  dying  in  the  Gauges  is  to  die  with  a  living 
cow's  tail  in  the  hand." 


38  Mission  Fields. 

Said  a  converted  zenana  woman  to  a  missionary: 
"I  can  not  believe  Christians  in  America  really 
know  the  position  of  women  in  India.  Do  they 
know  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  Hindu  devotees 
to  our  sacred  shrines  are  women ;  and  that  but  for 
our  ignorant,  superstitious  faith  in  our  heathen  gods 
and  goddesses,  these  places  of  pilgrimage  would, 
many  of  them,  be  left  desolate?  Do  Christians  in 
America  really  know  that  we  are  treated  as  chattels, 
and  not  as  human  beings;  caged  in  our  houses; 
destined  to  drag  out  a  weary,  aimless  life,  and  die  a 
dreary,  sunless  death?  O,  can  Christians  in  Amer- 
ica know  all  this,  and  not  help  us?" 

There  are  120,000,000  of  women  in  India;  and 
it  is  apparent,  says  one,  that  the  foundations  of 
heathenism  are  planted  in  the  zenanas,  for  fully 
one-third  of  that  number  are  shut  in  behind  their 
walls.  If  we  set  ourselves  to  fathom  this  zenana 
life,  what  is  it?  Try  seriously  to  contemplate  our- 
selves within  the  doomed  circle.  All  day  long,  and 
every  day,  for  years  in  and  years  out,  in  one  room ; 
four  bare  walls,  and  nothing  more  to  look  at  but  a 
square  patch  of  sky  occasionally.  What  should  we 
think  about? 

Twenty-one  million  one  hundred  and  sixty-three 
thousand  nine  hundred  and  fifty-two  women  in  the 
Northwest  provinces  alone  are  in  absolute  illiteracy ; 
in  all  India  there  are  111,000,000  of  women  who 
can  neither  read  nor  write.  Let  no  one  think  that 
there  is  a  lack  of  latent  mental  force  among  them; 


India.  39 

for  it  is  granted  that  their  intellectual  activity  is 
very  keen,  and  that  it  seems  to  last  longer  in  life 
than  that  of  men.  In  a  few  cases,  -when  permitted, 
women  have  shown  great  accomplishments  and  strong 
talents  for  business. 

The  rigors  of  seclusion  fall  heaviest  upon  the 
women  of  high-caste  families.  The  middle-class  are 
accorded  more  liberty,  and  are  allowed  on  the  streets 
closely  veiled.  The  women  of  the  laboring  classes 
perform  outdoor  work;  but  never  converse  with 
men,  not  even  their  own  relations,  in  public.  Not- 
withstanding all  the  gloom  of  their  surroundings, 
some  rays  of  joy  gladden  the  Hindu  wife's  heart, 
and  all  her  love  goes  out  to  her  husband  and  her  chil- 
dren. Much  might  truthfully  be  said  in  praise  of 
the  chastity  and  beauty  of  the  Hindu  women. 
1  'Even  if  of  the  common  class,  she  usually  has  the 
step  and  carriage  of  a  princess,"  says  Dr.  Hough- 
ton, "and,  especially  if  she  be  young  and  vigorous, 
is  a  beautiful  sight  to  look  upon  as  she  comes  walk- 
ing down  the  street,  perhaps  with  a  water-jar  or  a 
basket  balanced  skillfully  upon  her  head.  The 
women  of  the  higher  caste  are  often  very  beautiful ; 
and  if  to  her  gentle  manners,  elegantly  formed 
feet  and  hands,  low,  sweet  voice,  were  added  sym- 
metrical mental  and  moral  culture,  the  Hindu  woman 
would  have  no  equal." 

"When  in  the  presence  of  her  husband,  the 
woman  must  keep  her  eyes  upon  her  master,  and  be 
ready  to  receive  his  commands.     A  woman  has  no 


40  Mission  Fields. 

other  god  than  her  husband.  Though  he  be  aged, 
infirm,  a  drunkard,  or  debauchee,  she  must  still  re- 
gard him  as  her  god.  If  he  laughs,  she  must  also 
laugh;  if  he  weeps,  she  must  weep;  if  he  sings,  she 
must  be  in  ecstasy;  she  must  never  eat  till  he  is 
satisfied.  If  he  abstains  from  food,  she  must  fast; 
and  she  must  abstain  from  whatever  food  he  dis- 
likes." Under  such  bondage,  is  it  any  wonder  that 
there  are  millions  of  women  to  whom  the  words 
"love"  and  "home"  have  no  meaning?  In  health, 
their  condition  is  pitiable;  dying,  they  know  noth- 
ing of  a  bright  beyond.  "That  idea,"  says  Dr. 
Valentine,  "of  the  future,  in  which  the  highest 
Christian  truth  has  been  wedded  to  poetry  of  ex- 
quisite sweetness — 

1  There  's  nae  sorrow  there,  Jean ; 
There  's  neither  cauM  nor  care,  Jean ; 
The  day  's  aye  fair,  Jean, 
In  the  land  o'  the  leal' — 

has  never  been  sung  by  any  sad  heart  in  India." 

With  entreaties,  said  a  young  Hindu  wife  to  a 
missionary  returning  to  her  native  land:  "  You  will 
come  back  to  us,  M'em  Sahib?  Say  you  will  come 
back!  O,  promise  me!"  Very  earnestly  this  en- 
treaty fell  from  her  lips,  and  the  pleading  look  in 
her  dark  eyes  and  her  caressing  gestures  gave  touch- 
ing power  to  the  soft  Urdu  words.  "But  why, 
M'em  Sahib,  why  are  you  not  certain  to  come  back? 
And  why  do  not  many  ladies  come  from  America  to 
teach  us?     Are  not  all  American  people  Christians? 


India.  41 

Are  they  Dot  all  rich?  Why  do  not  many  of  them 
come?"  "Alas,  poor  Radi!  How  could  I  explain 
to  her,"  says  the  missionary,  "  that,  of  the  millions 
of  American  people,  comparatively  few  were  Chris- 
tian except  in  name;  and  that  even  among  those 
who  do  own  Christ  as  their  Lord,  not  one  in  a  hun- 
dred thinks  of  carrying  out  his  last  command?" 
"Promise  me  one  thing,  M'em  Sahib,"  said  Radi; 
"tell  every  woman  that  you  see  to  send  out  hun- 
dreds of  ladies  to  tell  about  the  Lord  Jesus  to  our 
people.  How  can  we  ever  know  about  him  unless 
you  teach  us?"  "It  was  the  simple  echo  of  Paul's 
great  question  floating  down  the  ages,  unanswered 
still :  '  How  shall  they  believe  in  Him  of  whom  they 
have  not  heard?'" 

*  •••  * 

"Widows  are  the  greatest  sufferers  of  India," 
says  Ramabai,  "and  their  treatment  surpasses  de- 
scription." How  many  are  there?  Over  21,000,- 
000 — more  than  the  entire  female-  population  of 
the  United  States  above  three  years  of  age.  Of 
these,  78,000  are  under  nine  years  of  age;  207,000 
are  under  fourteen ;  and  382,000  are  under  nine- 
teen. Practically,  every  Hindu  girl  of  good  caste 
is  either  a  wife  or  a  widow  before  she  reaches  the 
age  of  fourteen.  In  hundreds  of  thousands  of  cases 
the  child  has  never  known  what  it  is  to  be  a  wife. 
It  is  essential  for  the  honor  of  the  family  that  it 
should  contain  no  unmarried  daughters  of  mature 
years.     When,  therefore,  a  female  infant  is  born, 


42  Mission  Fields. 

the  first  idea  in  her  father's  mind  is  how  to  find  a 
husband  for  her.  She  is  betrothed  in  infancy,  and 
if  the  man  dies  before  they  are  married,  she  is  even 
then  regarded  as  his  widow.  At  his  funeral  she  is 
dragged  along,  wild  with  grief,  aghast  at  the  indig- 
nities heaped  upon  her,  her  eyes  full  of  bitter  tears, 
afraid  to  utter  a  sound,  lest  she  should  receive  a 
more  neartless  treatment.  Soon  after  the  party 
reaches  the  river — near  which  the  cremation  takes 
place — the  widow  is  pushed  into  the  water,  and 
there  she  has  to  remain  in  her  wet  clothes  until  the 
dead  body  has  been  burned  to  ashes.  The  custom 
is  rigidly  observed  in  all  seasons  and  in  all  circum- 
stances. It  matters  not  whether  she  is  scorched  by 
the  burning  rays  of  the  midday  sun  of  Indian  sum- 
mer, or  chilled  by  piercing  winds  blowing  from  the 
Himalayas  in  winter,  the  widow  must  be  dragged 
with  the  funeral  party  in  that  manner.  After- 
wards she  is  deprived  of  comforts,  and  treated  with 
contempt  and  cruelty.  Despised,  reproached,  living 
apart  from  the  family,  denied  all  festivities,  she  finds 
naught  left  to  her  but  tears,  prayers,  sacrifices,  fast- 
ings, and  servitude  to  her  husband's  family.  At 
whatever  age  she  is  left  a  widow,  though  she  may 
be  a  prattling  infant,  the  rules  and  restrictions  are 
none  the  less  severe.  She  must  be  content  with 
only  a  very  scanty  meal  once  a  day,  and  frequently 
abstain  from  all  food  and  drink.  If  a  widow  be 
the  mother  of  sons,  her  lot  is  a  little  better.  Oc- 
casionally she  receives  a  little  more  humane  treat- 


India.  43 

ment  if  she  lives  with  her  own  parents;  but  if  she 
has  to  pass  her  life  under  the  roof  of  her  father-in- 
law,  she  then  knows  no  comfort.  She  is  the  slave, 
and  knows  no  alternative,  unless  she  rushes  into  a 
life  of  shame,  or  ends  her  miseries  by  suicide. 

In  some  cases,  among  the  poorer  classes,  it  is  not 
necessary  that  the  girl  should  become  a  wife  in  our 
sense  of  the  word.  It  suffices  that  she  should  be 
given  in  marriage,  and  go  through  the  ceremony; 
and  to  that  end  there  is  the  revolting  practice  of 
aged  Brahmins  going  about  the  country,  and  marry- 
ing, for  a  pecuniary  consideration,  female  infants, 
whom,  in  some  cases,  they  never  see  again.  Gray- 
haired  men,  half-blind  and  decrepit,  will  go  the 
round  of  their  beat  each  spring,  and  go  through  the 
ceremony  of  marriage  with  such  infants  as  are  of- 
fered, pocketing  their  fees,  and  perhaps  never  return 
to  the  child's  house.  So  long  as  he  lives  she  can 
marry  no  other  man,  and  when  he  dies  she  becomes 
his  widow  for  life. 

There  are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  sad 
beings  who  have  acquiesced  in  their  cruel  lot.  They 
accept,  with  a  pathetic  faith  and  resignation,  the 
priestly  explanation  which  is  given  to  them.  They 
penitently  believe  that  they  are  expiating  sins  com- 
mitted in  a  past  life,  and  they  humbly  trust  that 
their  purifying  sorrows  here  will  win  a  reward  in  the 
life  to  come.  Only  the  Hindu  widows  know  their 
own  suffering;  it  is  impossible  for  another  mortal  to 
realize  or  reveal  them. 


44  Mission  Fields. 

The  empire  of  India  is  the  standing  miracle  of 
modern  history.  The  great  results  of  missionary 
effort  there  for  the  last  fifteen  years,  and  especially 
for  the  last  ten  years,  no  statistics  can  measure. 
The  history  of  the  work  in  its  zenanas  is  the  most 
wonderful,  interesting,  and  touching  chapter  in  the 
annals  of  modern  missions.  Christianity  has  abol- 
ished some  cruelties,  it  has  stamped  out  the  murder- 
ous work  of  the  dacoits,  and  it  has  given  a  marvel- 
ous uplift  to  the  oppressed  women  and  the  toiling, 
half-starved  millions  of  the  poorer  classes. 

The  people  have  learned  something  of  Chris- 
tianity through  various  channels,  so  that  non-Chris- 
tian communities,  recognizing  its  excellence  and 
power  as  compared  with  other  religious  systems 
about  them,  are  pervaded  with  the  conviction  that 
Christianity  is  destined  to  become  the  religion  of 
India.  There  are  nearly  one  hundred  colleges  and 
three  universities  that  are  educating  a  thousand 
students,  and  75,000  educational  institutions  besides 
that  are  contributing  their  force  to  the  intellectual 
activity  of  the  age.  The  country  has  a  number  of 
daily  and  weekly  newspapers  in  English,  and  nearly 
one  thousand  papers  in  the  vernaculars.  The  Gov- 
ernment has  constructed  railways,  so  that  the  re- 
motest part  of  the  empire  is  speedily  reached. 

Of  spiritual  progress,  such  reports  as  these  are 
coming  over  to  us:  One  denomination  reports  over 
1,500  converts  for  the  year,  in  places  lying  not  re- 
mote from  each  other.     Of  work  among  women,  in 


India.  45 

one  district  alone,  it  reports  that  there  are  more 
than  three  hundred  intelligent  native  Christian 
women,  five  hundred  Christian  girls  in  high-grade 
schools,  and  nine  hundred  in  schools  of  all  grades. 
In  various  stations  there  are  altogether  more  than 
ten  thousand  women  who  are  receiving  instruction. 
Another  denomination  sends  word  that,  within 
six  months,  sixty  thousand  people  have  turned  from 
idols  in  Tinnevelly  and  the  Telugu  country.  In 
connection  w7ith  this  latter  fact  it  is  interesting  to 
recall  to  mind  the  origin  of  the  Telugu  Mission, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  successful  in  the  world. 
Its  beginning  can  be  traced  to  the  act  of  a  young 
Sunday-school  teacher,  a  poor  seamstress,  who  one 
day  gave  a  rough  street-boy  a  shilling  to  go  to  Sun- 
day-school. The  boy — Amos  Sutton — was  con- 
verted, became  a  missionary  to  India,  and  was  the 
means  of  leading  the  Baptists  of  America  to  begin 
the  Telugu  Mission. 

RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  is  the  area  of  India? 

Answer.  One  million  four  hundred  and  twenty- 
five  thousand  seven  hundred  and  twenty-three  square 
miles. 

Q.  What  are  the  five  principal  mountain  ranges? 

A.  The  Himalayas,  along  the  northern  border, 
29,000  feet   at    the    highest  point;    the  Sulaiman 


46  Mission  Fields. 

Mountains,  between  Hindustan  and  Afghanistan,  on 
the  northwest;  the  Vindhyas,  extending  east  and 
west,  between  Hindustan  and  the  Deccan ;  and  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Ghauts,  running  north  and 
south,  on  each  side  of  the  Deccan. 

Q.  What  are  the  principal  rivers? 

A.  The  Indus,  1,800  miles  long,  and  the  Brahma- 
putra about  the  same  length ;  the  Ganges,  1,500 
miles  long,  and  five  or  six  smaller  streams. 

Q.  What  are  the  principal  occupations  of  the 
people  ? 

A.  More  than  two-thirds  follow  agriculture;  all 
the  useful  arts  and  trades  are  carried  on  with  rude 
appliances  and  little  ingenuity.  The  introduction 
of  English  manufactures  has  nearly  destroyed  the 
production  of  fine  textile  and  metallic  work,  for 
which  India  was  once  famous.  Priests,  beggars, 
and  jugglers  are  numerous.  Nearly  all  occupations 
are  regulated  among  the  Brahmins  by  caste. 

Q.  What  religions  prevail? 

A,  The  aborigines  practice  a  modified  form  of  a 
primitive  devil-worship;  about  187,000,000  are  Hin- 
dus; nearly  3,500,000  are  Buddhists;  50,000,000 
are  Mohammedans;  about  100,000  Parsees  are  Zoro- 
astrians;  there  are  also  Jews,  Sikhs,  and  Jains,  and 
some  other  smaller  sects;  1,862,634  are  Christians — 
of  whom  over  600,000  are  natives,  and  600,000  are 
Protestant  Christians. 

Q.  How  many  gods  have  the  Hindus? 

A.  Three  hundred  and  thirty  millions. 


India.  47 

Q.  What  is  the  style  of  the  houses? 

A.  The  typical  Hindu  family  house  is  built  in 
the  form  of  a  quadrangle,  with  an  open  court-yard 
in  the  center.  The  men  have  their  apartments  and 
the  women  theirs.  In  the  court  is  often  some  tree. 
Such  a  tree  by  its  surroundings  is  shielded  from  the 
fury  of  the  dust-storms,  and  is  carefully  watered  and 
cherished  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  house.  When 
the  natives  read  in  the  Psalms,  "I  am  like  a  green 
olive-tree  in  the  house  of  God,"  they  well  under- 
stand how  secure  in  God's  favor  is  that  man ;  they 
know  how  beloved  he  is  of  God. 

Q.  Do  any  of  the  habits  of  the  people  illustrate 
customs  spoken  of  in  the  Bible? 

A.  In  the  lives  of  the  people  are  seen  many  il- 
lustrations of  the  customs  alluded  to  in  the  Bible. 
No  illustration  could  more  forcibly  impress  the 
mind  of  a  Hindu  that  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem 
was  to  be  sudden  and  terrible  than  the  prophecy: 
''Two  women  shall  be  grinding  at  the  mill;  the  one 
shall  be  taken,  and  the  other  left."  The  flour  is 
ground  daily  by  the  women  of  the  family.  The 
women  rise  early  in  the  morning  to  grind  during 
the  cool  of  the  day,  as  it  is  hard,  heavy  work.  If 
there  is  but  one  woman  in  the  family,  she  must 
grind  the  flour;  if  there  are  two  women,  they  sit 
down  on  either  side  of  the  mill-stones,  each  turning 
the  handle  with  the  right  hand,  and  each  putting 
in  the  wheat  with  the  left  hand.  Were  they  sud- 
denly  alarmed,  their  chances   of  escape  would  be 


48  Mission  Fields. 

equal;  but  Christ  prophesied  that,  in  the  day  of 
terror,  one  should  be  taken  and  the  other  left. 

Every  evening,  as  the  poor  women  go  to  the 
wells  to  draw  water,  one  is  reminded  of  Abraham's 
servant,  who,  with  his  camels,  rested  by  the  well, 
so  that  at  evening  time,  when  the  women  came  out 
to  draw  water,  he  might  see  the  maids,  and  choose  a 
wife  for  his  master's  son. 

The  command,  "Loose  thy  shoe  from  off  thy 
foot,  for  the  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy 
ground,"  is  followed  every  day  by  the  Mohammed- 
ans. A  devout  Mohammedan,  wherever  he  is  or 
whatever  his  business,  at  the  setting  of  the  sun 
takes  off  his  turban,  or  cotton  shawl,  and  spreads  it 
on  the  ground.  That  spot  has  become  holy  ground. 
He  takes  off  his  shoes,  washes  his  feet;  then,  step- 
ping on  the  consecrated  place,  and,  bowing  to  the 
West  towards  Mecca,  prays. 


AFRICA. 

The  United  States  include  a  population  of  60,- 
000,000  souls;  Africa  has  more  than  three  to  every 
one  of  these.  One  man  out  of  every  seven  on  the 
globe  dwells  in  Africa. 

Into  the  heart  of  the  Dark  Continent  plunged 
Henry  M.  Stanley.     When  he  came  out,  it  was  to 


Africa.  4VJ 

declare  the  fact  that  40,000,000  of  people  were  to 
confront  the  Christian  Church.        —Dr.  Ashmore. 

There  are  192,000,000  people  living  on  the 
Dark  Continent,  of  whom  it  is  said  that  only  2,000,- 
000  have  ever  heard  the  gospel. 

South  of  the  great  African  Sahara  there  is  a 
stretch  of  4,000  miles  without  a  single  missionary 
amongst  the  multitudes  of  people  to  be  found  in  the 
villages  and  great  cities. 

■»  •••  -k« 

Think  of  the  90,000,000  in  the  Soudan  region 
without  a  single  evangelical  witness,  and  the  40,- 
000,000  in  the  Central  African  lake  districts  sitting 
in  heathen  darkness!  —Dr.  Pierson. 

When  Stanley  made  his  memorable  journey  of 
999  days  across  the  continent  of  Africa,  in  the 
course  of  7,000  miles  he  never  saw  the  face  of  a 
Christian,  nor  of  a  man  who  had  had  an  opportunity 
to  become  one. 

-a-  •••  # 

What  Columbus  and  Vespucius  did  for  Amer- 
ica in  the  sixteenth  century,  Livingstone  and  Stanley 
have  done  for  Africa  in  the   nineteenth.     A  new 
4 


50  Mission  Fields. 

world  is  opened  to  us,  with  an  area  equal  to  North 
America  and  Europe  combined.  And  this  world 
has,  for  eighteen  hundred  years,  been  allowed  to  sit 
in  darkness  and  the  shadow  of  death!  Think  of 
200,000,000  of  human  beings,  even  now  compact 
together,  and  never  having  heard  of  the  love  of 
God!  Has  not  Africa,  at  this  time,  the  strongest 
possible  claim  upon  the  energies  of  the  Christian 
Church?  •  — Mes.  Guinness. 

The  first  convert  in  the  Upper  Congo  Valley- 
was  baptized  recently,  and  the  valley  contains  30, _ 
000,000  people.  All  things  being  considered,  the 
6ongo  Valley  is  said  to  afford  the  grandest  oppor- 
tunity for  fresh  missionary  enterprise  which  the 
world  has  to  offer  to-day. 

•*  +  *& 

As  AN  illustration  of  the  vastness  of  Africa,  it 
is  stated:  "Connecticut  has  4,700  square  miles, 
Dakota  and  Japan  are  each  forty-seven  times  larger, 
India  is  ten  times  larger  than  Japan,  China  is  nearly 
three  times  larger  than  India,  and  yet  out  of  Africa 
you  might  construct  China  and  two  Indias.  In 
Northern  Africa,  Morocco  is  equal  to  five  times  the 
size  of  England,  while  Algeria  is  three  times  its  size. 
Tripoli  is  a  province  several  times  as  large  as  Eng- 
land. The  number  of  missionaries  in  North  Africa 
is  few  compared  to  its  vast  extent  and  population. 


Africa.  51 

Little  groups  of  workers  are  to  be  found,  two  or 
three  hundred  miles  apart,  in  a  line  from  east  to 
west,  from  Tunis  to  Tangier ;  but  farther  south 
there  are  none  for  from  1,200  to  2,000  miles.  In 
between  these  groups  are  large  stretches  of  country, 
with  millions  of  souls,  who  have  never  yet  heard  the 
gospel.  Tripoli  is  at  present  without  a  witness  for 
Christ,  to  tell  its  1,200,000  souls  of  his  atonement. 
In  Tunis,  among  2,000,000  Moslems,  there  are  but 
half  a  dozen  missionaries.  In  Algeria  the  popula- 
tion is  increasing  at  the  rate  of  nearly  100,000  a 
year,  and  is  now  nearly  4,000,000.  About  3,300,- 
000  of  these  are  Mohammedans,  among  whom  are 
laboring  but  twoscore  missionaries.  Morocco  is  the 
most  populous  country  in  North  Africa,  and  is  esti- 
mated to  contain  from  six  to  eight  millions  of  peo- 
ple, among  whom  less  than  twenty  missionaries  are 
working.  The  Sahara  has  a  population  of  probably 
2,000,000  or  3,000,000,  and  no  missionaries  are 
among  the  Sahariens  at  present. 

"In  Algeria  alone,  if  missionaries  were  planted 
ten  miles  apart,  1,500  would  be  needed;  and  this 
wf>uld  give  each  a  parish  of  100  square  miles,  with 
a  population  of  over  2,000  people.  It  will  be  seen 
that  fifty  missionaries  for  the  whole  of  North  Africa 
is  entirely  insufficient,  both  for  area  and  population. 
Again,  out  of  these  16,000,000  Moslems,  probably 
about  33  per  1,000  die  every  year,  or  528,000  souls 
annually — 10,000  every  week.  .  .  .  With  all 
our  facilities  at  home,  to  how  many  different  per- 


52  Mission  Fields. 

sods  does  an  ordinary  minister  preach  in  the  course 
of  a  year?  Suppose  his  congregation  to  number 
about  500  persons.  He  gets  the  same  persons  Sun- 
day after  Sunday,  and  in  the  year  possibly  does  not 
reach  more  than  2,500  souls.  Suppose  each  of  the 
fifty  missionaries  to  reach  5,000  Mohammedans,  they 
would  still  only  reach  250,000,  or  one  out  of  sixty- 
four  of  the  population.  Count  them,  as  they  hurry 
past — sixty-three  who  have  not  heard,  and  one 
who  has!" 

■»  •••  *• 

The  extreme  northern  part  of  Africa  was,  in 
ancient  times,  the  seat  of  civilization  and  great  po- 
litical power;  but  the  most  of  it  has  relapsed  into  a 
state  of  semi-civilization. 

The  extreme  southern  portion  possesses  a  good 
state  of  civilization,  because  the  great  majority  ot 
the  people  are  colonists  from  Great  Britain  or 
Europe. 

The  central  portion,  stretching  across  the  conti- 
nent, with  the  exception  of  small  portions  of  the 
coast  territory,  is  peopled  chiefly  by  heathen,  many 
of  whom  are  very  superstitious  and  degraded. 

In  the  center,  on  both  sides  of  the  Congo  River, 
stretching  from  the  Atlantic  Ocean  nearly  to  the 
Indian  Ocean,  is  the  Congo  Free  State. 

The  population  of  the  entire  continent  is  esti- 
mated at  200,000,000.  The  Arabs  predominate  in 
the  north,  the  Negroes  in  the  center,  and  the  Hot- 


Africa.  53 

tentots  in  South  Central  Africa.  The  religion  of 
the  majority  of  the  natives  in  North  Africa,  and  in 
the  central  part  to  a  great  extent,  is  Mohammedan- 
ism. The  lowest  form  of  religion,  called  Fetichism, 
is  believed  in  and  practiced  by  the  people  of  South 
Central  Africa.  Polygamy  is  allowed  both  by  Mo- 
hammedans and  pagans,  and  is  generally  practiced 
by  all  the  native  tribes  of  Africa;  and  the  wives  are 
generally  the  principal  means  of  support  for  men 
and  children. 

Everywhere  and  always,  heathenism  means  for 
women  degradation  and  humiliation,  although  it 
takes  different  forms  in  India,  China,  Turkey,  and 
Africa.  "Her  lot  in  Africa,"  says  « '  Woman's  Work 
for  Woman,"  "is  perhaps  not  so  hard  as  in  some 
other  lands.  The  struggle  for  the  necessities  of  life 
is  less  sharp,  and  pangs  of  hunger  are  less  often 
felt,  than  in  parts  of  Asia.  She  is  not  confined  like 
a  prisoner  for  life  in  a  zenana  or  harem,  but  has 
the  fullest  liberty  to  go  and  come ;  and  does  come 
to  hear  the  gospel  as  freely  as  the  men.  But  in 
other  respects  her  lot  is  a  hard  one,  and  ought  to 
appeal  powerfully  to  the  sympathies  of  sisters  in 
Christian  lands.  Take  a  very  common  sight  in 
Africa:  On  a  forest  path  you  meet  a  family  return- 
ing home  from  the  plantation ;  in  advance  stalks 
the  man,  a  stalwart  fellow,  carrying  a  gun;  next 
come  the  women,  panting  and  staggering  under  the 


54  Mission  Fields. 

loads  they  carry,  looking  like  pack-mules  rather  than 
women.  You  say  to  the  man :  '  Why  do  you  make 
your  wives  carry  such  heavy  loads?'  In  surprise, 
he  answers:  'Why,  they  are  my  women!'  'I  know 
they  are,'  you  reply;  'but  why  don't  you  carry  the 
baskets?'  'Me?  I'm  a  man!'  It  is  the  work  of  the 
women  to  carry  the  loads. 

"And  so  women  are  the  burden-bearers,  and 
they  age  rapidly  under  it.  As  a  rule,  youth  is  past 
at  twenty-five ;  and  at  thirty  or  forty  a  woman  looks 
sixty  or  seventy." 

AVhen  the  missionary  steamer  was  to  be  placed 
on  Lake  Nyassa,  the  leader  of  the  expedition  ap- 
plied to  the  chief  of  the  tribe  for  reliable  help  to 
carry  the  craft  around  the  cataract.  The  chief  re- 
sponded by  sending  eight  hundred  women — a  com- 
pliment at  least  to  the  trustworthiness  of  the  sex,  if 
nothing  more.  Some  of  them  came  fifty  miles, 
bringing  their  provisions  with  them.  These  women 
were  intrusted  with  the  whole,  when,  if  a  single 
portion  of  the  steamer  had  been  lost,  the  whole  scheme 
would  have  failed.  They  carried  it  in  two  hundred 
and  fifty  loads,  in  five  days,  and  under  a  tropical 
sun,  seventy-five  miles,  to  an  elevation  of  eighteen 
hundred  feet,  and  not  a  nail  or  screw  was  lost. 
They  received  for  their  wages  six  yards  of  calico, 
and  as  a  gift  were  given  one  extra  yard. 

"Every  now  and  then,"  says  a  missionary,  "one 
comes  unexpectedly  on  some  of  the  horrid  customs 
of  heathenism.     A  short  time  ago  a  woman  died, 


Africa.  55 

leaving  a  baby  a  week  or  two  old.  The  poor  little 
tiling  was  put  to  the  dead  mother's  breast,  and  then 
buried  alive  with  her.  This  is  a  Sechuana  custom, 
practiced  to  this  day."  Of  the  custom  of  making 
human  sacrifices,  Bishop  Crowther  told  what  he  had 
seen  of  them.  "We  walked,"  he  said,  "to  visit 
two  mausoleums — the  first  being  in  honor  of  a  rich 
man,  and  the  other  of  a  rich  woman.  A  horrible 
sight  met  our  view.  There  in  the  house  lay  the 
skeleton  of  a  woman.  The  body  was  in  a  sitting 
posture.  It  was  a  depressing  sight.  The  gloomy 
and  damp  surroundings,  the  stillness  around,  and 
the  sad  object  before  us,  directed  our  minds  to  the 
prayer,  '  Lord,  have  respect  to  thy  covenant,  for  the 
dark  places  of  the  earth  are  full  of  the  habitations 
of  cruelty.'  This  woman  was  a  human  sacrifice,  of- 
fered to  the  dead  rich  woman." 

Another  glimpse  of  heathenism  he  gives  in  the 
proceedings  of  a  burial:  "When  the  grave  was  dug, 
two  female  slaves  were  taken,  whose  limbs  were 
smashed  with  clubs.  Being  unable  to  stir,  they 
were  let  down  into  the  grave,  yet  alive,  on  a  mat, 
on  which  the  corpse  of  the  mistress  was  laid,  and 
screened  from  sight  for  a  time.  Two  other  female 
slaves  were  laid  hold  on,  and  dressed  up  with 
clothes  and  coral  beads.  They  were  paraded  about 
the  town,  to  show  the  public  the  servants  of  the 
rich  dead  mistress,  whom  they  would  attend  in  the 
world  of  spirits.  This  was  done  for  two  days,  when 
the   unfortunate   victims  were  taken  to  the  edge  of 


56  Mission  Fields. 

the  grave,  and  their  limbs  were  smashed  with  clubs, 
and  their  bodies  laid  on  the  corpse  of  the  mistress, 
and  covered  up  with  earth  while  yet  alive."  Can 
there  be  any  doubt  of  the  urgent  need  of  sending 
Christian  teachers  among  this  poor  people? 

Of  other  inhuman  customs  and  atrocities  per- 
petrated, a  secular  paper  states  that  where  prisons 
exist,  they  are  horrible,  and  the  way  the  prisoners 
are  manacled  and  chained  together  with  rough  iron 
collars  is  dreadful.  The  " bastinado"  and  flogging 
are  common  punishments.  Even  women  are  sub- 
jected to  it,  the  law  providing  that  when  a  female 
is  to  be  bastinadoed,  she  must  be  seated  in  a  basket, 
with  only  her  feet  exposed;  the  punishment  in- 
flicted must  be  of  a  light  character;  but  the  pashas 
pay  little  attention  to  the  law,  and  women  are  some- 
times thrown  down  on  their  faces,  and  mercilessly 
flogged.  Theft  is  punished  in  a  barbarous  manner, 
the  right  hand  being  chopped  off,  and  the  mutilated 
limb  dipped  in  pitch  or  tar  to  cauterize  it  and  stop 
bleeding. 

&  •••  -te 

Slavery  is  as  rampant  as  ever,  and  broods  like 
a  curse  over  the  continent.  "I  am  not  alone," 
writes  one,  "in  thinking  that  in  this  wretched  traffic 
in  human  life  there  are  horrors  sufficient  to  cause 
the  most  devout  to  question  the  existence  of  mercy. 
It  seems  cruel  that  men  should  be  begotten  and 
should  live  with  hearts  as  cold  as  winter's  icy  wind, 


Africa.  57 

and  just  as  pitiless ;  and  whose  malignant  oppression 
shows,  in  the  saddest  form,  the  dismal  truth  of 
'man's  inhumanity  to  man.'  Hard  it  would  be  to 
show  the  slave  that  his  life  was  anything  beyond 
that  of  a  beast." 

A  strong  young  man  brings  forty  yards  of  calico; 
a  young,  unmarried  girl,  fifty-six  yards  of  calico; 
a  young  mother,  thirty-six  yards  of  calico;  an 
elderly  man  or  woman,  four  yards  of  calico;  a  tooth- 
less old  man,  two  yards. 

It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  see  dense  throngs  of 
unhappy  wretches,  chained  together,  with  open  and 
undressed  wounds  on  their  shoulders,  stand  waiting 
to  be  sold ;  while  here,  there,  and  everywhere,  keen- 
eyed  Arabs  jostle  each  other  in  their  eager  bargain- 
making.  Now  and  again  an  overdriven  prize  sinks 
where  he  or  she  stands,  and  expires  through  weak- 
ness or  fever  incurred  during  the  long  and  fearful 
marches  across  deserts  and  swamps;  while  at  fre- 
quent intervals  a  sob  or  wail  can  be  heard,  coming 
straight  from  the  heart  of  some  one  whose  powers 
of  endurance  have  given  away. 

To  prevent  escape,  the  strongest  and  most  vigor- 
ous men  have  their  hands  tied,  and  sometimes  their 
feet  in  such  fashion  that  walking  becomes  a  torture 
to  them ;  and  on  their  necks  are  placed  yokes  which 
attach  several  of  them  together.  In  this  way  they 
are  made  to  walk  all  day,  bearing  heavy  loads,  and 
at  night-fall  a  few  handfuls  of  raw  rice  are  thrown 
to  them.     A  few  days  of  their  hardships  begin  to 


58  Mission  Fiei/ds. 

tell  even  on  the  strongest.  The  weakest  soon  suc- 
cumb, and  the  weakest  are  naturally  among  the 
women.  But  terror  sometimes  nerves  even  a  weak 
frame  to  almost  superhuman  efforts;  and  the  Arab 
slave-driver  adopts  a  summary  method  of  striking 
terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  laggards.  The  conduct- 
ors, armed  with  a  wooden  bar,  approach  those  who 
appear  to  be  most  exhausted,  and  deal  them  a  ter- 
rible blow  on  the  nape  of  the  neck.  The  unfortu- 
nate victims  utter  a  cry,  and  fall  to  the  ground  in 
the  convulsions  of  death.  The  terrified  troop  imme- 
diately resumes  its  march. 

"The  women?  I  can  hardly  trust  myself  to 
think  or  speak  of  them,"  says  Mr.  Stevenson,  in  his 
last  essay  on  "The  Arab  in  Central  Africa."  "They 
were  fastened  to  chains,  or  thick  bark  of  ropes; 
very  many,  in  addition  to  their  heavy  weight  of 
grain  or  ivory,  carried  little  babies,  dear  to  their 
hearts  as  a  white  woman's  to  hers.  The  double  bur- 
den was  almost  too  much;  and  still  they  struggled 
wearily  on,  knowing  too  well  that  when  they  showed 
signs  of  fatigue,  not  the  slaver's  ivory,  but  the  living 
child,  would  be  torn  from  them,  and  thrown  aside 
to  die.  One  poor  old  woman  I  could  not  help  no- 
ticing. She  was  carrying  a. big  boy,  who  should 
have  been  walking;  but  whose  thin,  weak  legs  had 
evidently  given  way.  She  was  tottering  already; 
it  was  the  supreme  effort  of  a  mother's  love,  and  all 
in  vain;  for  the  child,  easily  recognizable,  was 
brought  into   camp,  a   couple  of  hours  later,  by  a 


Africa.  59 

hunter,  who  had  found  him  on  the  path.  We  had 
him  cared  for;  but  his  poor  mother  never  knew. 
Already  death  had  been  freeing  the  captives.  We 
could  not  help  shuddering  as,  in  the  darkness,  we 
heard  the  howl  of  hyenas  along  the  track,  and  real- 
ized only  too  fully  the  reason  why." 

"I  was  often  permitted  to  see  human  harvests 
of  slaves,"  says  Mr.  Stanley,  "and  such  slaves  as 
they  were!  They  were  females  and  young  children. 
Every  second,  during  which  I  regarded  them,  the 
clink  of  fetters  and  chains  struck  upon  my  ears.  My 
eyes  caught  sight  of  that  continual  -lifting  of  the 
hand  to  ease  the  neck  in  the  collar,  or  as  it  displayed 
a  manacle  exposed  through  a  muscle  being  irritated 
by  the  weight  or  want  of  fitness.  My  nerves  were 
offended  with  the  rancid  effluvium  of  the  unwashed 
herds  within  that  human  kennel,  and  I  was  annoyed 
by  the  vitiated  atmosphere." 


•»  •••  -I* 


To-day  there  are  thirty-four  missionary  societies 
at  work  in  Africa.  Of  David  Livingstone  and  his 
labors,  Mr.  Stanley  eloquently  says:  "In  1871  I 
went  to  him  as  prejudiced  as  the  biggest  atheist.  I 
was  there,  away  from  a  worldly  world.  I  saw  this 
solitary  old  man  there,  and  asked  myself,  Why  on 
earth  does  he  stop  here?  For  months  after  we  met, 
I  found  myself  listening  to  him,  and  wondering  at 
the  old  man  carrying  out  all  that  was  said  in  the 
Bible.     Little  by  little  his  sympathy  for  others  be- 


60  Mission  Fields. 

came  contagious;  mine  was  aroused.  Seeing  his 
piety,  his  gentleness,  his  zeal,  his  earnestness,  and 
how  quietly  he  went  about  his  business,  I  was  con- 
verted by  him,  although  he  had  not  tried  to  do  it." 

"Many  times  in  traveling/'  writes  a  missionary, 
"I  have  heard,  in  the  evening,  hymns  rising  up 
from  the  mountain-side,  beautifully  sung;  and  I 
have  ridden  over  to  hear  whence  they  came,  and 
have  come  to  a  kraal,  and  there  were  the  people 
sitting  together,  not  knowing  that  any  white  man 
was  near,  and  I  have  found  them  earnestly  praying 
and  singing.  An  African  Christian  woman  said  to 
me,  one  time:  'The  Jesus,  of  whom  you  speak,  is 
no  stranger  to  me,  although  I  have  never  heard  his 
name  before.  He  is  so  like  the  Friend  I  have  long 
felt  I  needed.'" 

Passing  through  the  country,  and  stopping  at  a 
mission-school,  a  traveler  says  he  was  struck  with 
the  holy,  happy  influence  of  the  place.  It  was 
touching  in  the  extreme,  he  says,  to  hear  the  chil- 
dren, one  after  another,  plead  with  God  that  they 
might  have  the  talent  of  language  given  to  them,  so 
that  they  might  erelong  be  able  to  tell  the  natives 
of  Jesus  and  his  love. 

In  one  of  the  missionary  settlements  in  South 
Africa  the  converts  are  accustomed  to  seek  retire- 
ment and  opportunity  for  prayer  in  a  thick  clump 
of  bushes.  It  has  become  a  common  practice  among 
them,  when  either  of  their  number  does  anything 
inconsistent  with  his  profession,  to  say:  "O,  he  has 


Africa.  61 

not  been  to  the  bush!"  It  is  readily  seen  that  just 
in  proportion  as  the  path  from  the  hut  to  the  bush 
is  well  trodden,  so  great  is  the  power  over  the  weak- 
nesses of  human  nature. 

Africa's  night  draws  to  a  close,  but  the  mists  are 
still  low ;  yet  here  and  there  do  we  discern  the  rays 
of  the  coming  morn. 

"At  all  hours  of  the  day,"  writes  a  missionary, 
"you  may  hear  Baralong  men  and  women  singing 
the  songs  of  Zion.  Women  and  children,  as  they 
bring  water  from  the  Molopo,  sing  the  hymn, 
'Shall  we  gather  at  the  river V  and  men,  journey- 
ing about  the  country  in  their  bullock-wagons,  may 
be  heard  singing,  '  0,  think  of  the  home  over  there !' 
Surely, 

1  Out  of  the  shadows  of  night, 
The  world  breaks  out  into  light; 
It  is  daybreak  everywhere.' " 

•a-  •••  4* 

RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  are  we  told  in  the  tenth  chapter 
of  Genesis? 

Answer.  That  Africa  fell  to  the  share  of  Ham 
and  his  sons. 

Q.   Where  are  Africans  mentioned  in  the  Bible? 

A.  The  man  whom  Philip  met  and  baptized  was 
a  man  of  Ethiopia.  In  the  Psalms,  David  says: 
"Ethiopia  shall   stretch  out  her  hands  unto  God." 


62  Mission  Fields. 

Speaking  of  our  Lord's  toilsome  walk  to  Golgotha, 
Matthew  says:  "As  they  came  out,  they  found  a 
man  of  Cyrene,  Simon  by  name ;  him  they  com- 
pelled to  bear  his  cross."  Cyrene  was  at  that  time 
an  important  place  in  Northern  Africa.  Simon  was 
probably  either  a  Greek  and  a  Jewish  proselyte,  or 
the  son  of  Jewish  parents  and  born  in  Cyrene. 
The  Apollos  mentioned  in  the  Acts  was  said  to  be 
"a  Jew  from  Alexandria,"  in  Egypt;  while  Egypt 
recalls  a  host  of  incidents,  and  the  story  of  Joseph 
and  of  the  cruel  bondage  of  the  Israelites. 

Q.  Why  is  it  so  difficult  to  explore  this 
country? 

A.  The  chief  difficulties  arise  from  its  deadly 
climate  and  its  savage  inhabitants. 

Q.  What  more  can  be  told  of  this  country? 

A.  It  is  two  and  a  half  times  greater  than  North 
and  South  America  combined,  and  its  gold  and 
silver  mines  are  exhaustless. 

Q.  Is  Africa  a  beautiful  land? 

A.  Its  immense  trees  are  clad  in  emerald  green 
the  entire  year;  there  are  beautiful  flowers,  majestic 
rivers  and  lakes. 

Q.  What  religion  has  spread  over  part  of  the 
northern  and  eastern  coast  of  Africa? 

A.   Mohammedanism. 

Q.  What  are  the  mass  of  the  people? 

A,  Debased  heathens,  believing  that  all  sickness, 
accidents,  or  death  are  caused  by  witches,  who  are 
human  beings  inhabited  by  an  evil  spirit. 


South  America.  63 

Q.  What  do  the  huts  of  the  natives  look  like? 

A.  Hay-stacks,  covered  with  grass,  with  a  hole 
in  one  side  large  enough  to  crawl  in  on  hands  and 
knees. 

Q.  What  has  been  done  for  the  improvement  of 
the  African? 

A.  The  Bible  has  been  translated  into  many  of 
their  languages;  about  two  thousand  missionaries 
are  at  work  among  them ;  and  in  noting  the  facil- 
ities now  afforded  to  commerce  and  mission- work,  it 
should  never  be  forgotten  that  Protestant  mission- 
aries gave  to  both  the  first  impulse. 


SOUTH  AMERICA. 

There  are  vast  spaces  in  Africa  without  a  single 
Christian  missionary.  So  there  are  in  South  and 
Central  America.  — D*  Pierson. 

"Into  the  heart  of  Africa,  throughout  the  Chi- 
nese Empire,  over  the  sacred  hills  of  Syria,  across 
the  plains  of  Persia,  and  among  the  millions  of 
India,  send  the  gospel;  but  do  not  forget  the  neigh- 
boring South  American  lands.  A  Christian  litera- 
ture must  be  given  to  these  people;  Christian 
preachers  and  teachers  must  be  provided." 


64  Mission  Fields. 

There  are  no  people  in  the  world  more  entirely 
neglected  and  unknown  than  the  Indians  of  South 
America.  To  every  one  who  has  a  heart  to  labor 
and  a  will  to  choose,  South  America  says  to-day: 
''Study  my  needs,  my  future,  and  then  weigh  my 
call;  my  destiny  rests  on  your  shoulder." 

3*  +  & 

The  West  Coast  of  South  America  has  12,000,- 
000  of  people  whose  religion  is  a  degraded  form  of 
Romanism. 

•3*  •••  «• 

Throughout  all  the  valley  of  the  Amazon, 
which  extends  in  length  3,300  miles,  there  is  not  to 
be  found  an  evangelical  missionary ;  aud  it  is  stated 
that  the  gospel  has  never  been  preached  in  all  that 
territory.  There  are  12,000,000  of  souls  in  Brazil 
who  are  almost  without  any  true  knowledge  of  the 
gospel,  and  on  its  plains  there  are  a  million  of 
wild  Indians  ignored  as  yet  by  the  Christian  world. 

•a-  •••  & 

The  Republic  of  Venezuela  has  a  population  of 
2,121,988.  There  is  no  Protestant  mission-work, 
yet  the  Government  tolerates  freedom  in  worship. 

The  Paraguayans  are  an  interesting  but  neg- 
lected people,  said  to  number  over  300,000,  and  are 
virtually  without  any  religion. 


South  America.  65 

The  natives  of  South  America  are  much  similar 
to  each  other  in  appearance,  except  in  the  extreme 
south.  They  are  fond  of  liberty  and  independence; 
slavery  has  never  been  brooked  by  them  as  by  the 
Africans.  Polygamy  is  common  in  most  of  the 
tribes,  and  it  is  very  customary  for  a  man  to  bring 
up  a  young  girl  from  childhood  to  be  one  of  his 
wives  in  due  course.  The  first  wife  by  no  means 
approves  of  this  "  too  much  marrying,"  and  not  in- 
frequently rebels  and  wins  the  day  against  any  rival 
being  introduced  into  the  family  lodge.  Wild 
dances  of  all  sorts  are  very  popular ;  while  at  great 
merry-makings  and  feasts,  wrestling  and  trials  of 
strength  are  popular  amusements  of  the  younger 
men. 

One  writer  says:  "The  Guianaian  Indian  is 
hospitable  according  to  his  means ;  every  visitor  gets 
the  best  he  has  in  his  house.  In  his  turn,  he  is 
fond  of  paying  visits;  indeed,  a  full  fourth  of  the 
year  is  occupied  by  going  about,  so  that,  in  course 
of  time,  he  gets  well  acquainted  with  the  country. 
Time  to  him  is  nothing.  When  he  goes  off  on  a 
journey,  and  requires  to  be  at  home  on  a  certain 
date,  he  will  leave  a  kind  of  calendar  with  his 
friend,  consisting  of  a  knotted  string,  each  knot 
representing  a  day.  A  knot  is  untied  on  the  morn- 
ing of  each  day  he  is  absent,  and,  if  he  is  well,  he 
will  arrive  on  the  day  the  last  knot  is  untied. 
Theft  is  unusual  among  them,  though  each  tribe 
accuses  the  other  of  being  addicted  to  pilfering." 
5 


66  Mission  Fields. 

Of  the  Patagonians,  the  same  writer  say?'.  " Their 
faces  are  ordinarily  bright  and  good-humored,  though 
in  the  presence  of  strangers  they  assume  a  sober  and 
even  a  sullen  demeanor.  Paint  is  worn  on  the  face 
and  on  the  body  as  a  protection  against  the  effects 
of  the  wind  and  sun,  and  on  high  occasions  the  men 
adorn  themselves  with  white  paint." 

There  is  a  large  class  of  so-called  "tame  Indi- 
ans," whose  condition  is  wretched  almost  beyond 
description.  The  condition  of  the  wild  Indian  is 
simply  that  of  a  wild  animal — naked,  and  unspeak- 
ably filthy.  The  frontiersman  shoots  him  without 
compunction;  and  the  work  of  the  Government  is  a 
farce,  so  far  as  any  serious  attempt  to  evangelize  the 
Indians  is  concerned. 

The  Chilano  is  the  Yankee  of  South  America — 
the  most  ingenious  and  thrifty  of  the  Spanish- 
American  race;  quick  to  perceive,  but  cold-blooded 
and  cruel. 

The  women  do  the  street  cleaning,  occupy  the 
markets,  keep  fruit-stands,  and  are  employed  as 
street-car  conductors;  for  it  must  be  borne  in  mind 
that  Chilians  take  the  front  rank  in  intelligence  and 
enterprise  of  any  of  the  South  American  races;  and 
Chili  may  justly  be  ranked  with  other  civilized  na- 
tions, her  upper  social  and  intellectual  life  being 
largely  patterned  after  French  ideas.  Nevertheless, 
her  people  are  given  to  deception,  and  some  do  pur- 
loin. It  is  the  common  rule  to  put  away  from  the 
parlor   pretty  little  ornaments,  lest  they  disappear. 


South  America.  67 

Yet  not  all  the  people  are  untruthful,  nor  do  all 
steal;  but  public  sentimeut  is  exceedingly  loose  on 
some  things.  The  Protestant  idea  of  Sabbath-keep- 
ing is  almost  wholly  unknown  as  a  theory,  and  al- 
most universally  disregarded  as  a  rule  of  life.  The 
Chilians  need  the  gospel;  they  need  Christian  edu- 
cation. 

Brazil  is  one  of  the  largest  empires  in  the  world. 
Its  natural  resources  are  equal  to  those  of  the  United 
States,  and  its  physical  condition  such  as  to  offer 
great  inducements  to  the  crowded  and  distressed 
millions  of  Europe.  Numerous  rivers  and  lofty 
mountains  make  it  a  beautiful  land;  but  the  cus- 
toms and  the  manners  of  the  people,  their  super- 
stitions, morals,  and  religion,  make  the  country  any- 
thing but  a  safe  and  restful  habitation  for  mis- 
sionaries. 

In  portions  of  the  country  the  aboriginal  In- 
dians have,  to  a  large  extent,  become  amalgamated 
with  the  settled  population;  but  in  the  vast  interior 
they  remain  to  a  great  extent  in  a  savage  condi- 
tion. It  is  estimated  that  there  are  still  a  million 
of  Indians  in  Brazil.  It  is  a  mere  estimate.  We 
have  no  means  of  ascertaining  the  exact  truth. 
Indeed,  a  vast  part  of  the  territory  has  never  been 
explored.  Only  recently,  German  explorers,  going 
up  a  confluent  of  the  Amazon  River — the  Xingu — 
found  tribes  of  Indians  of  which  there  had  never 
been  notice  even;  not  nomadic,  but  agricultural  in 
their  habits.     It  has   been  said  that  the  Indians  of 


68  Mission  Fiexds. 

Brazil  are  inferior  in  some  respects  to  those  of  North 
America;  yet  they  have  the  same  qualities  phys- 
ically. They  show  the  same  strong  sense,  the  keen 
perception  of  truth  and  justice,  which  has  been  re- 
vealed frequently  in  the  "poor  Indian"  of  our  own 
country.  The  eastern  provinces  of  Brazil  are  dif- 
ferent; primary  education  is  gratuitous,  and  is  com- 
pulsory in  some.  Their  customs  are  peculiar.  It  is 
not  thought  the  proper  thing  for  the  women  to  eat 
with  the  men.  Women  never  appear  outside  their 
houses  without  a  male  escort  or  slave.  Domestic 
animals  have  perfect  freedom  of  the  house;  and 
dogs,  pigs,  and  cows  even,  are  a  common  sight  upon 
entering  a  house. 

*  .;.  & 

The  wife  of  Professor  Agassiz  wrote  of  Brazilian 
women:  "Among  my  own  sex  I  have  never  seen 
such  sad,  sad  lives — lives  deprived  of  healthy,  in- 
vigorating happiness;  intolerably  monotonous,  inac- 
tive, stagnant."  A  Brazilian  woman  contributed  to 
a  Brooklyn  magazine  the  following  very  readable 
article  on  the  characteristics  of  her  country-women. 
She  says:  "Consanguineous  marriages  in  Brazil  are 
the  rule,  and  not  the  exception.  There  are  very 
many,  not  only  of  the  first  cousins,  but  also  of 
double  first  cousins.  It  seems  ludicrous  to  the 
stranger  to  hear  a  man  and  his  wife  address  each 
other  as  cousin,  as  they  generally  do  when  such  was 
their   relationship.     One  reason  for  such  marriages 


South  America.  69 

is,  that  young  people  have  little  chance  for  becom- 
ing acquainted  excepting  with  relations.  A  young 
man  never  visits  a  family  he  is  not  related  to  unless 
to  make  a  brief  ceremonious  call — perhaps  when 
about  to  leave  town,  or  for  some  other  like  pur- 
pose— unless  it  is  clearly  understood  that  he  comes 
with  matrimonial  intentions,  when  he  always  asks, 
not  for  the  girl,  but  for  her  parents  and  guardians, 
who  take  her  into  the  reception-room  with  them, 
all  remaining  until  the  visit  is  concluded.  Kelatives 
often  meet  under  less  restricted  circumstances,  until 
they,  as  a  matter  of  course,  'fall  in  love.'  Still, 
occasionally,  flirtations  are  inaugurated  by  the  gen- 
tleman frequently  passing  the  house  of  some  girl 
between  whom  and  himself  there  springs  up  a  sort 
of  understanding,  when  she  will  make  it  a  point  to 
be  at  a  window  or  in  the  garden  the  hour  he  is  in 
the  habit  of  passing;  and  finally  he  will  ask  her 
hand  of  her  guardians,  and,  if  the  match  be  ap- 
proved, they  will  become  engaged  without  perhaps 
ever  having  exchanged  a  word,  uuless  at  some  party 
where  they  chanced  to  meet  he  may  have  asked  her 
for  a  dance  or  two,  or  on  some  other  like  occasion 
they  may  have  exchanged  the  barest  civilities.  But 
whether  the  betrothed  couple  are  cousins  or  not, 
they  are  never  allowed  to  sit  in  a  room  by  them- 
selves, much  less  to  take  a  walk  unaccompanied, 
until  they  are  married,  which  generally  follows  a 
short  engagement — long  ones  not  being  in  favor. 
A.   girl   is   never   permitted  to  go  out,  not  even  to 


70  Mission  Fields. 

Church,  unless  chaperoned  by  one  of  the  family,  or 
some  other  lady,  generally  of  mature  age.  Nothing 
could  be  more  colorless  than  the  life  of  a  young 
Brazilian  woman ;  she  has  no  taste  whatever  for 
reading — her  education  is  of  the  most  meager  de- 
scription, it  not  being  considered  worth  while  to 
educate  girls.  The  necessity  of  educating  boys  is 
understood  by  parents,  and  those  who  are  able,  do 
so;  but  a  girl — what  need  has  she  for  an  education? 
They  are  even  ignorant  of  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant historical  facts  relating  to  their  own  land,  and 
of  the  thousand-and-one  other  topics  that  the  women 
of  America  and  other  countries  are  generally  con- 
versant with.  They  embroider,  crochet,  and  study 
music;  but  usually  lack  the  patience  and  applica- 
tion necessary  to  excel  in  the  latter.  If  they  want 
a  drink  of  water,  or  their  shoes  changed,  they  call 
a  slave  to  do  it.  Many  can  sew  and  do  their  own 
dress-making,  being  very  convenient  with  the  needle, 
their  natural  antipathy  to  work  being  overcome  by 
their  love  of  dress.  Their  conversation  is  utterly 
frivolous;  they  talk  very  loud  and  in  the  most  ani- 
mated manner,  gesticulating  and  beating  the  air 
with  their  hands  and  arms,  all  talking  at  once. 

"If  the  Brazilian  girl  does  not  marry  at  the  age 
when  she  ought  to  be  playing  with  her  dolls,  she 
frequently  continues  to  play  with  her  dolls  until  she 
does  marry.  The  writer  remembers  seeing  a  young 
woman,  apparently  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  in 
a  street-car  in  the  city  of  Bahia,  with  a  doll  in  her 


South  Amkrica.  71 

lap,  which  she  cared  for  and  handled  the  same  as  a 
little  girl  would  do;  and  it  is  no  unusual  thing  for 
youug  married  women  to  own  and  play  with  these 
and  similar  fixtures  of  the  nursery. 

"Books  are  scarce  and  expensive,  leading  one 
to  infer  there  is  but  little  literature  in  the  language. 
What  books  there  are,  are  mainly  religious,  and 
filled  with  accounts  of  miracles,  both  of  olden  and 
recent  times.  In  the  large  cities  women  go  to 
parties  and  entertainments;  but  those  living  in  the 
country  rarely  go  out,  and  when  they  do,  it  is  an 
event  to  be  prepared  for  and  talked  of  for  weeks  in 
advance.  It  is  not,  therefore,  to  be  wondered  at 
that  Brazilian  women,  with  so  little  to  do,  should 
be  proud  of  the  sound  of  their  own  voices  and  of 
gossip.  It  is  not  uncommon  to  hear  a  Brazilian 
woman  talking  so  loudly  to  herself  as  to  lead  one 
passing  her  room  to  suppose  that  she  was  entertain- 
ing a  company  of  friends  in  conversation.  The 
most  prolific  subject  is  their  religion ;  and  nearly 
all  holidays  have  some  connection  with  the  Church. 
The  women  usually  do  evince  a  deep  interest  in 
all  religious  matters,  and  these  ofttimes  form  an  en- 
tire conversation  for  hours  at  a  time. 

"It  must  not  be  inferred  that  all  the  women  of 
Brazil  are  possessed  of  the  dispositions  and  habits 
above  described.  There  are  a  few  thoughtful 
women,  mostly  self-educated,  who  have  yearnings 
for  a  life  less  intolerably  dull  and  narrow — women 
who,  in  spite  of  all  difficulties,  study  and  read,  and 


72  Mission  Fields. 

despise  the  aimless,  dreary,  cramped  existence  that 
they  are  condemned  to,  and  which  suffices  for  so 
many  others." 

Another  writer  fittingly  says:  "In  the  name  of 
the  Brazilian  people  that  need  so  much  help,  in  the 
names  of  the  souls  that  will  perish  unless  we  carry 
them  the  light,  in  the  name  of  our  solemn  duty  to 
them,  in  the  name  of  our  blessed  Savior  who  bought 
them  and  us  with  his  most  precious  blood,  let  every 
Christian  in  the  United  States  of  North  America  do 
all  he  can  for  the  United  States  of  Brazil!" 

■a  •••  -K* 

"Tell  me,"  said  a  young  Spaniard  at  Buenos 
Ayres,  "are  there  no  Christians  in  North  America?" 
"Yes,"  answered  the  missionary,  "hundreds  of 
thousands."  "  Then,"  with  a  most  sad  face,  he  con- 
tinued, "why  do  not  they  come  out  here?  Do  you 
know  that  Buenos  Ayres  is  so  ready  for  the  gospel 
that  you  have  only  to  announce  a  meeting,  and  the 
people  crowd  in  until  there  is  not  room  to  stand?" 

The  people  of  Terra  del  Fuego  are  thus  de- 
scribed by  an  English  missionary:  "They  are  no- 
madic in  their  habits,  moving  about  from  place  to 
place  in  their  bark  canoes,  in  the  center  of  which  a 
fire  is  always  burning.  Each  canoe  contains  a  fam- 
ily ;  the  wife  rowing,  while  the  husband  is  on  watch 
with  his  javelin.     On  landing,  the  woman  has,  first 


South  America.  73 

of  all,  to  carry  her  husband  ashore,  he  holding  the 
fire  carefully  above  the  water.  When  everything 
is  ashore,  the  woman  at  once  begins  the  erection  of 
their  primitive  hut.  The  men  are  rarely  able  to 
swim;  but  the  women  are,  as  a  rule,  expert  swim- 
mers, and  this,  together  with  their  constant  work  at 
rowing,  gives  them  extraordinary  muscular  power. 

Polygamy  is  practiced  to  the  extent  of  each  man 
usually  having  two  wives — an  older  and  a  younger 
one.  Without  writing  of  any  kind,  they  yet  pre- 
serve many  rules  and  customs,  more  or  less  tradi- 
tional, and  mainly  relating  to  the  chase.  They  are 
good-natured  and  helpful,  but  tenacious  in  the  de- 
fense of  their  rights.  They  delight  in  long  stories 
and  conversations,  and  in  these  a  good  part  of  their 
time  is  spent.  Of  all  religious  ideas  and  duties, 
they  have  a  vague  idea  of  the  spirits  of  the  departed 
wandering  about  in  the  world,  and  as  greatly  to  be 
feared.  Everything  about  the  Fuegian  is  disgust- 
ing, and  almost  brute-like.  The  spectator  turns 
away  from  him  in  the  belief  that  surely  no  man, 
created  in  the  image  of  his  Maker,  has  reached  the 
lowest  type,  or  brute  ascending  to  the  highest  stage. 
He  moves  about  in  a  crouching,  stooping  posture; 
his  person  is  covered  with  the  filth  of  generations, 
and  his  long,  mane-like  locks  are  repulsive.  Though 
living  in  a  country  where  sleet,  snow,  and  rain  are 
almost  every-day  occurrences,  the  male  Fuegian 
wears  no  clothing,  except  a  small  piece  of  seal-skin 
thrown   over   his   shoulder,  and    removed   now  and 


74  Mission  Fields. 

then  so  as  to  shelter  his  person  in  the  direction 
whence  the  blast  may  be  blowing.  The  women 
have  quite  as  little  clothing.  The  skins  of  this  race 
seem  to  be  insensible  to  cold,  and  though  they  seem 
to  strangers  to  be  always  shivering,  yet  this  must 
have  become  a  second  nature  with  them;  for  they 
may  be  seen  moving  about  from  place  to  place,  or 
sitting  in  their  canoes,  with  the  whirling  snow  beat- 
ing against  their  nude  persons,  seemingly  without 
caring. 

Among  the  most  interesting  missionary  records 
is  the  account  of  Captain  Allen  Gardner's  labors, 
who  gave  his  life  to  South  America.  His  story  is 
simple.  He  was  an  officer  of  the  English  navy, 
who  lost  early  his  young  and  accomplished  wife. 
He  then  consecrated  himself  to  missionary  services. 
He  spent  time  and  much  out  of  his  private  re- 
sources in  visiting  various  parts  of  the  world.  To 
be  a  pioneer  missionary  to  the  most  abandoned 
heathen  was  his  aim  in  life.  He  especially  set  his 
heart  on  South  America.  He  did  not  live,  suffer, 
nor  die  in  vain.  In  Terra  del  Fnego  his  special  ef- 
forts were  made,  and  as  a  result  there  is  now  a 
Christian  Church,  a  district  with  schools,  an  orphan- 
age, Bible  and  mothers'  meetings. 

The  great  naturalist  Darwin  said  that  the  first 
time  he  visited  Terra  del  Fuego  the  people  were  the 
most  degraded   he   had  ever  seen — they  were  worse 


South  America. 


75 


than  brutes.  He  visited  the  island  again  before  his 
death,  after  mission-work  had  been  carried  on  there 
for  years,  and  he  wrote:  "The  success  of  the  Terra 
del  Fd    _  -ion   is   most  wonderful,  and  charms 

me,  as  I  always  prophesied  utter  failure."  A  mis- 
sionary went  to  the  bedside  of  an  injured  Fuegian. 
"What  is  the  matter?"  he  asked;  and  the  man 
replied:  "Sick— eye;  man  throw  snowball  hard, 
hit  me."  Directly  he  added:  "Me  walk  straight 
home — say  nothing ;  no  hit  man  back." 

"There  are  times  of  depression,"  says  the  relator 
of  this  story,  "  when  the  thought  of  the  ignorance 
of  this  people  is  borne  upon  the  mind  heavily;  but 
then  again  come  blessed  flashes  of  light  like  this  in- 
cident, slight  as  it  seems,  which  gives  me  strength  to 
go  forward  with  renewed  courage." 


-a-  -f  ¥f 


RESPONSIVE   EXERCISES. 

Question.  Who  are  the  natives  of  South  America? 
mer.  Indians,  many  of  whom  are  in  a  half- 
civilized  state.  Three-tenths  of  the  population  of 
South  America  are  put  down  as  pure  white,  and 
one-tenth  Negro ;  others  are  mixed-blood. 

Q.   How  many  languages  are  spoken   among  the 

Indians? 

A.  Over  four  hundred;  as  many  as  among  all 
the  seven  or  eight  hundred  millions  of  the  Old- 
World  inhabitants. 


76  Mission  Fields. 

Q.  Who  were  the  first  European  settlers? 

A.   The  Portuguese. 

Q  What  European  nations  have  founded  settle- 
ments in  South  America? 

A.  The  Portuguese,  Spaniards,  French,  Dutch, 
and  British. 

Q.   Are  Protestant  missions  permitted? 

A.  They  are  permitted  in  all  the  republics,  but 
with  restrictions  in  some,  and  in  all  are  much  op- 
posed by  Romish  priests. 

Q.  What  was  the  first  Protestant  work  in  South 
America? 

A.  The  first  Protestant  Church  was  formed  1>\ 
a  colony  of  French  Huguenots  on  an  island  near 
Rio  Janeiro,  in  1554,  and  survived  until  1567, 
when  it  was  dispersed  by  the  inhabitants.  To-da} 
over  half  a  dozen  different  missionary  societies  art 
working  in  various  portions  of  the  continent. 

Q.  What  is  the  proportion  of  Protestant  mission 
aries  to  population  ? 

A.  It  is  said  that  there  is  one  Protestant  mis- 
sionary to  600,000  persons  in  South  America. 


MEXICO. 

There  are  at  least  8,000,000  people  in  the 
United  States  of  Mexico  who  have  never  seen  a 
copy  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  In  that  population 
of  11,000,000,  there  are  just  about   400  Protestant 


Mexico.  77 

workers.  What  parishes!  Every  worker  caring  for 
some  28,000  souls!  We  can  not  afford  to  have  a 
Christless  and  Churchless  neighbor.  Let  us  visit 
her,  and  carry  with  us  Christ. 

— Gospel  in  All  Lands. 

•3*  ^.  .fc. 

Mexico  is  as  much  a  field  for  Protestant  mis- 
sions as  China  or  Africa.  — Lr.  Piebsoh. 

•a  •?•  «■ 

It  is  absolutely  heart-rending  to  think  of  a  na- 
tion of  people  right  by  our  door,  in  as  fair  a  prov- 
ince, in  some  parts  of  it,  for  climate,  for  soil,  and 
for  wealth  of  resources  in  all  manner  of  production, 
as  the  sun  shines  on  in  all  his  course,  living  and 
dying  in  this  deplorable  state  for  hundreds  and 
possibly  thousands  of  years — generation  following 
generation,  and  century  following  century — and  the 
same  pall  of  worse  than  death  still  hanging  over  them. 

Has  their  redemption  dawned  at  last?  We 
would  fain  hope  so.  Surely  there  is  enough  humanity 
in  man,  not  to  mention  Christian  sympathy,  now 
that  the  door  is  open,  to  send  healing  influences  of 
Christianizing  and  civilizing  agencies  into  this  Dead 
Sea  of  semi-heathen  misery.  But  it  is  said  Mexico 
is  a  Christian  land ;  and  how  can  this  wretched- 
ness be  explained?  Has  Christianity  done  nothing 
for  this  people?  We  have  to  answer:  Yes,  Mexico 
is  a  so-called   Christian    nation.      She   calls  herself 


78  Mission  Fields. 

"a  most  Christian  nation."  It  is  not  the  want  of 
Christianity,  but  the  kind  of  Christianity  it  has, 
that  is  its  bane.  A  type  of  Christianity  must  be 
given  to  it  that  will  purge  those  golden  mountains 
and  wealth-bearing  plains,  and  give  it  a  different 
kind  of  homes  and  peoples;  that  will  transform 
thoBe  sad  and  wretched  hordes  into  men  and  women, 
and  make  their  hearts  and  homes  bloom  with  the 
hopes  and  loves  and  refinements  such  as  grow  on 
the  stem  of  the  Christianity  of  Christ. 

— Bishop  Foster. 

•»  •••  4* 

The  country  of  Mexico  is,  from  every  point  of 
view,  one  of  the  fairest  and  most  interesting  in  the 
world.  Lay  it  on  our  Republic,  and  it  would  cover 
one-third  of  our  territory. 

The  towns  and  hamlets  look  very  much  as  they 
have  looked  for  the  past  three  hundred  years— bits 
of  old  Spain  dropped  into  the  New  World  soil  amid 
the  moldering  ruins  of  its  ancient  civilization.  Its 
population  is  said  to  number  11,000,000,  and  it  is 
generally  agreed  that  about  one-third  of  the  whole 
number  are  pure  Indians,  the  descendants  of  the 
proprietors  of  the  soil  at  the  time  of  its  conquest  by 
the  Spaniards;  a  people  yet  living  in  a  great  de- 
gree by  themselves,  though  mingling  in  the  streets 
of  the  cities  with  the  other  races,  and  speaking 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  different  languages 
or  dialects. 


Mexico.  79 

They  are  blow  workers,  but  faithful  and  perse- 
vering; they  often  live  to  be  a  hundred  years  old, 
and  the  women  are  especially  long-lived.  Nearly  one- 
half  of  the  white  population  are  of  mixed  blood. 
The  Mestizos,  whose  maternal  ancestors  were  Indi- 
ans, and  their  fathers  of  Caucasian  blood,  constitute 
the  dominant  race  of  Mexico. 

These  people  are  industrious,  easily  managed, 
and  contented.  Poverty  does  not  imply  extreme 
suffering  from  either  cold  or  starvation,  because  of 
the  mildness  and  productions  of  the  country.  When 
their  simple  wants  are  satisfied,  money  with  them 
has  but  little  value,  and  quickly  finds  its  way  into  the 
pockets  of  priests  or  lottery-sellers.  Lottery-offices 
are  everywhere. 

Many  of  the  hospitals  and  other  charitable  insti- 
tutions are  sustained  by  this  sort  of  gambling.  The 
religion  of  the  people  seems  to  have  been  absorbed 
by  their  vices,  or  their  vices  by  their  religion — 
either  way — for  even  the  lotteries  and  gambling- 
dens  sail  under  the  name  and  patronage  of  the 
saints. 

The  moral  condition  of  the  people  is  extremely 
low.  Perhaps  half  of  the  population  living  to- 
gether as  man  and  wife  are  not  married.  The  ex- 
orbitant marriage-fees  of  the  Church  have  had  much 
to  do  with  this. 

Ignorance  is  rife.  It  is  still  said  to  be  true  that 
six-sevenths  of  the  people  can  neither  read  or  write. 

Lacking  a  river  system  and  having  few  harbors, 


80  Mission  Fields. 

Mexican  commerce  naturally  floats  to  our  ports. 
Awaking  to  the  superiority  of  our  civilization,  Mex- 
ican society  begins  to  court  closer  fellowship  with 
our  institutions.  Whether  avarice  and  ambition 
shall  conquer  Mexico  in  the  interests  of  trade  and 
traffic,  or  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  shall  impel  la- 
borers to   till   those  fields  for  Christ,  is  the  issue  of 

the  hour. 

•»  •••  * 

While  habits  and  customs  which  are  wrought 
into  the  very  life  of  the  people  are  fast  giving  way 
before  American  ideas,  yet  there  are  immense  dis- 
tricts where  foreign  wares  and  ways  are  unknown. 
Husbandry  is  still  carried  on  as  it  was  when  Joseph 
was  Pharaoh's  overseer  in  Egypt. 

Men  and  women  both  share  in  the  burdens  of 
caring  for  the  family;  a  woman  may  work  in  the 
fields,  but  the  heaviest  part  of  outdoor  labor  comes 
on  the  man.  Those  who  are  too  poor  to  own  one 
of  their  little  ponies,  will  all  day  carry  on  their 
own  backs  a  load  of  from  seventy-five  to  a  hundred 
pounds.  They  take  short  steps,  aud  go  on  their 
long  journeys,  up  aud  down  hill,  at  a  jog-trot,  re- 
turning satisfied  if  they  have  earned  a  dollar  or  two 
at  most. 

For  love  of  wife  and  children,  Mexicans  of  every 
class  are  unexcelled  anywhere.  If  a  man  is  at  work 
on  a  new  road,  thither  he  transports  his  wrife  and 
babies.  He  has  a  shelter  for  them  somewhere 
among  the  cactus  or  palms,  or  he  burrows  in  a  hill- 


Mexico.  81 

side,  or  has  a  little  thatch  amid  the  brush.  Here 
the  little  brown  children  roll  in  the  sun  with  the 
pigs,  which  have  accompanied  the  family  on  their 
migration.  The  pony,  if  they  have  one,  is  tethered 
close  by ;  and  the  inevitable  donkey  goes  hobbling 
about,  as  long-suffering  as  the  Indian,  and  with  some- 
thing like  his  history. 

The  ordinary  homes  of  the  common  people  are 
built  of  adobe  or  logs,  and  branches  of  trees.  A 
heap  of  stones  in  the  corner  serves  for  a  fire-place 
on  the  earthen  floor. 

Large,  costly,  and  often  elegant  stone  edifices, 
public  and  private,  are  not  wanting  in  the  principal 
towns  and  cities. 

Servants  are  cheap  and  plenty,  and  you  are 
pretty  sure  to  have  several  descendants  of  the  Aztec 
kings  about  the  house  if  you  hire  one;  for  it  is 
the  rule  that  the  whole  family  go  with  the  father  or 
mother  when  they  go  out  to  service.  The  cook 
brings  her  husband  and  her  children,  and  they  are 
fed  from  your  table  and  sleep  under  your  roof. 
The  husband  may  be  a  shoemaker  or  a  hackman, 
but  he  lives  where  his  wife  works.  There  are  usually 
rooms  enough  in  the  house  for  them  all,  and  the 
only  food  they  want  is  plenty  of  beans  and  what  is 

left  from  one's  table. 

■»  •••  -14- 

A  Mexican  girl    is  born   and  grows  up  amidst 
quarrels,  laziness,  and   blows.     While  but   a  baby 
herself  she  becomes  a  nurse  for  the  next  comer,  and 
6 


82  Mission  Fields. 

often  she  may  be  seen  in  the  street  staggering  under 
the  weight  of  an  infant  almost  as  large  as  herself. 
What  does  she  wear?  Rags.  The  skirt,  once  put 
on,  stays  on  till  it  drops  off;  she  lives  in  it — she 
sleeps  in  it.  Her  head  and  shoulders  are  covered 
with  the  national  reboza.  "Where  is  she  educated? 
In  the  streets — growing  very  wise  in  this  world's 
craftiness.  So  the  years  go  on,  and  at  the  age  of 
perhaps  fourteen  she  marries  a  boy  of  sixteen.  Is 
her  condition  bettered?  By  no  means.  From  this 
time  she  is  probably  the  bread-winner  of  the  house- 
hold, receiving  as  her  only  reward  blows  and  curses. 
Children  are  born  to  her,  to  be  reared  as  was  she 
herself;  and  while  she  is  comparatively  young  in 
years  she  is  an  old  woman.  But  has  religion  no 
comfort  for  her?  The  priest  gives  comfort  only  to 
those  wTho  give  money,  and  her  pennies  are  few. 
She  goes  regularly  to  the  church ;  but  can  Latin 
prayers  soothe  her  troubled  heart?  Sickness  enters 
her  door;  will  the  priest  come,  and,  with  kindly 
words  and  deeds,  strengthen  and  help  ?  If  she  pays 
well  he  will  come,  mutter  a  few  meaningless  prayers, 
sprinkle  the  sick  with  holy  water,  aud  go.  At  last 
she  lays  down  her  burden ;  her  body,  without  funeral 
rite,  is  hurried  to  the  grave,  perhaps  on  the  shoulders 
of  men;  her  soul — where  is  it? 

Do  you  think  this  is  overdrawn?  The  picture 
scarcely  gives  you  an  idea  of  the  miserable,  aimless, 
godless  lives  of  the  women  of  Mexico  among  the 
lowest  class.     Naturally  as  you  ascend  you  find  the 


Mexico.  83 

temporal  wants  better  supplied,  and  consequently 
less  and  less  bodily  suffering. 

Of  courtship,  among  the  better  class,  a  corre- 
spondent writes:  "The  beginning  of  it  consists  in  a 
young  man  passing  up  and  down  the  street  where 
the  object  of  his  admiration  resides,  between  the 
hours  of  five  and  eight  o'clock  every  afternoon,  with 
his  eyes  fixed  on  the  balcony,  where  the  young 
woman  is  standing  if  she  wishes  to  encourage  him. 
Then  he  goes  to  the  same  church  and  the  same  mass 
as  she  does,  and  looks  at  her  all  the  time  she  is  pray- 
ing, and  he  ought  to  do  the  same.  He  walks  after  her 
in  the  street  when  she  goes  out  shopping  accompanied 
by  some  elderly  lady ;  in  fact,  he  follows  her  every- 
where, without  ever  speaking  to  her  unless  he  hap- 
pens to  dance  with  her  in  a  ball-room.  If  he 
receives  a  great  amount  of  encouragement,  then  he 
passes  up  and  down  the  street  where  she  lives,  not 
only  in  the  afternoon,  but  at  other  hours  of  the 
day.  He  will  make  signs  to  her;  and  when  he  can 
not  express  all  he  wants  to  say  by  signs,  then  he 
writes  notes  to  her,  and,  when  it  is  dark,  throws 
them  upon  the  balcony,  tied  to  a  small  bouquet. 
Before  visiting  the  house,  some  person  of  influence 
proposes  the  young  man  to  the  father  as  fiance  for 
the  young  lady;  and  if  he  is  accepted,  then  he  is 
allowed  to  visit,  and  only  sees  his  intended  wife  in 
the  presence  of  the  entire  family  until  their  mar- 
riage." 

A  recent  visitor   to   Mexico    was   struck  by  the 


84  Mission  Fields. 

sad  expression  on  the  faces  of  the  Mexican  women  ; 
there  seemed  to  be  no  joy  or  mirthful nesa  in  their 
lives.  They  are  plodding  and  industrious;  they 
weave,  with  their  old  Aztec  loom?,  just  such  cloth 
as  their  ancestors  gave  to  Cortez  by  the  bale.  "As 
woman  is  naturally  more  religious  than  man,"  says 
an  author,  "when  she  kneels  at  the  shrine,  and 
yields  obedience  to  a  false  religion,  her  servitude  is 
more  abject,  her  condition  more  deplorable.  Woman 
in  Mexico,  as  in  all  Catholic  countries,  is  a  pitiable 
slave.  From  childhood  she  is  taught  to  yield  her 
self  implicitly,  body  and  soul,  to  the  will  of  the 
priest.  In  the  confessional  she  must  tell  every- 
thing. There  are  no  family  secrets,  no  conjugal 
confidences,  but  must  be  poured  into  the  ear  of  the 
father  confessor.  The  priest,  knowing  all  family 
affairs — its  incomings  and  outgoings,  even  to  the 
minute,  every-day  occurrences — has  it  wholly  in 
his   power,  and    this   power   is    used    for   the  basest 

purposes." 

•»  •••  & 

"When  once  converted  to  Christianity  the  women 
become  ardent,  loving  followers  of  the  blessed  Jesus. 
One  missionary  tells  us  of  women  he  has  known 
who  have  worked  in  the  sun  all  day,  and  traveled 
miles  at  night,  carrying  their  children  in  their  arms, 
to  attend  a  prayer-meeting,  and  walking  back  in 
time  to  begin  work  at  five  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing. Another  tells  us  of  an  old  woman,  who  never 
saw  the  Bible  until  she  was  seventy  years  old,  and 


Mp:xico.  85 

who,  at  a  special  Conference  meeting  recently, 
walked  five  miles  to  attend  the  service  and  give  her 
testimony,  though  then  over  eighty  years  old. 

•»  •••  ■«• 

With  all  that  makes  Mexico  one  of  the  most 
fruitful  of  mission-fields,  it  has  been  called,  with 
truth,  one  of  the  most  difficult  and  dangerous. 
Scarcely  one  of  the  Protestant  Churches  but  has 
had  its  martyrs,  and  sometimes  many  of  them. 
One  missionary  writes:  "More  than  once  I  have 
looked  out  on  a  sea  of  maddened  creatures,  ready 
to  tear  me  limb  from  limb,  almost  succeeding  in 
forcing  an  entrance  into  the  house,  but  held  back 
by  the  unseen  Hand." 

Never  in  any  nation  has  human  sacrifice  been 
carried  to  so  frightful  an  extent  as  it  was  among 
this  people.  Human  sacrifices,  and  the  sacrificial 
eating  of  human  flesh,  formerly  prevailed  to  a  mon- 
strous and  cruel  degree. 

11  Mexico,  Past  and  Present,"  from  which  we 
have  made  copious  extracts,  says:  "There  are  sad 
memories  haunting  almost  every  corner  of  Mexico. 
In  the  square  in  which  stands  the  Convent  of  San 
Domingo  were  the  Inquisition  buildings,  under  the 
care  of  Dominican  friars ;  these  buildings  are 
now  occupied  by  the  Methodist  Mission.  One  of 
the  gilded  rooms,  of  which  they  took  possession,  had 
in  its  walls  a  door  which  had  been  plastered  up. 
This  was  knocked   open,  and  a  room  was  found  in 


86  Mission  Fields. 

which  were  many  human  skeletons.  The  hapless 
victims  had  evidently  been  let  down  through  a  well- 
like opening  overhead,  and  left  alone  to  die,  the 
living  among  the  dead.  From  the  court-yard  of 
this  terrible  prison,  thirteen  cart-loads  of  human 
bones  were  taken  before  it  could  be  made  suitable 
for  the  purposes  of  the  mission." 

But  all  classes  of  people  in  Mexico  are  being 
aroused  a  little.  Those  who  used  to  beg  or  starve, 
because  they  had  nothing  else  to  do,  can  now  earn 
an  honest  living  with  pickax  and  spade  along  rail- 
road routes.  In  the  educational  institutions  several 
thousand  students  are  now  pursuing  their  studies. 
Besides  these  are  asylums  for  the  blind,  the  deaf  and 
dumb,  and  some  other  charities. 

It  is  not  yet  a  hundred  years  since  the  streets  of 
the  City  of  Mexico  were  lighted  at  night,  and 
scarcely  twenty-five  since  a  moonlight  walk  was 
safe  for  either  ladies  or  gentlemen.  They  are  now 
as  orderly  as  those  of  any  city  in  America.  The 
policemen  stand  with  lanterns,  about  a  hundred 
yards  apart,  all  over  the  city. 

"I  wish  you  could  be  in  our  church  some  Sun- 
day night,"  says  a  Mexican  missionary.  ''You 
would  see  over  five  hundred  Mexicans,  many  so  poor 
that  they  can  get  only  one  miserable  meal  per  day; 
many  sitting  there,  trying  to  stretch  a  ragged  old 
blouse  or  shirt  so  as  to  make  it  conceal  their  bare 
backs  and  shoulders ;  many  taking  turns — when  they 
have  not  clothes — the  mother  wearing  the  only  de- 


Mexico.  87 

cent  dress  to  one  service,  the  daughter  to  the  next. 
Five  hundred  Mexicans,  four-fifths  of  them  with  no 
better  clothing  than  a  single,  thin,  muslin  suit,  when 
it  is  so  cold  that  we  Americans  are  cold  with  all  our 
thick  clothing  and  our  overcoats  on!  All  this  to 
hear  the  gospel!" 


RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  To  what  race  do  the  people  of  Mexico 
belong? 

Answer.  There  are  about  6,000,000  native  Indi- 
ans; 3,000,000  mixed  Indian  and  white;  1,500,000 
Mexican-born  Spaniards;  150,000  pure  white,  of 
whom  50,000  are  natives  of  Spain;  10,000  Ne- 
groes; 45,000  mixed  Negro  and  Indian;  and  50,000 
mixed  Negro  and  white. 

Q.  What  is  the  present  Government? 

A.  A  federal  republic  of  twenty-seven  States, 
one  Territory— Lower  California — and  the  federal 
district  of  the  City  of  Mexico  and  vicinity.  The 
structure  and  administration  of  the  Government  are 
modeled  after  that  of  the  United  States. 

Q.  What  is  the  state  of  education? 

A.  Until  1857  there  was  none  worth  the  name. 
Since  that  time  more  than  5,000  public  schools  have 
been  established  and  maintained  by  the  State,  in- 
cluding universities  and  technical  schools. 


88  Mission  Fields. 

Q.  What  is  the  religion  ? 

A.  The  majority  of  the  people  are  Roman  Cath- 
olics, and  are  ignorant  and  superstitious.  It  is 
estimated  that  still  from  one-third  to  oue-half  of 
the  real  estate  is  owned  by  priests.  The  Church 
collects  from  the  people  throughout  the  Republic 
$20,000,000  a  year,  and  she  has  left  the  people  poor, 
ignorant,  superstitious,  and  immoral. 

Q.  What  of  some  remnants  of  public  buildings 
and  instruments  of  torture  in  preservation  in  the 
museums  ? 

A.  In  the  National  Museum  may  be  seen  the 
sacrificial  stone  of  the  Aztecs,  all  begrimed  with 
stains,  just  as  when  thrown  dowTn  by  the  Spaniards, 
still  stained  with  the  life-blood  of  their  countrymen. 
There  is  the  terrible  stone  yoke,  that  used  to  hold 
fast  the  victim  while  the  heart  was  torn  from  the 
quivering  body;  and  also  the  obsidian  knives,  with 
which  the  priests,  with  solemn  pomp,  made  the  in- 
cision between  the  ribs  of  the  doomed  victim. 

Q.  Who  was  the  pioneer  lady  missionary  from 
America? 

A.  Miss  Rankin,  who  fearlessly,  quietly,  and 
zealously  worked  for  years  on  the  Mexican  border; 
many  times  she  was  persecuted,  and  the  history  of 
her  mission  labors  reads  like  a  romance.  Thousands 
of  Bibles  wrere  carried  into  the  country  through 
her  influence;  among  the  first  was  one  which  she 
baked  into  a  loaf  of  bread,  and  sent  to  Mata- 
moras. 


Turkey.  89 

Q.  What  can  be  said  of  the  silver-mines  of 
Mexico  ? 

A.  Doubtless  Mexico  has  produced  one-half  the 
existing  stock  of  silver  in  the  world.  There  are 
mines  which  yield  $13,000,000  annually,  aud  no 
silver-mines  have  ever  been  known  to  give  out.  The 
mines  which  the  Aztecs  worked  before  Cortez  came 
are  profitable  yet. 


TURKEY. 

Osman  Bey  said:  "During  my  stay  in  America 
I  was  often  overwhelmed  with  questions  about  the 
Orient  and  Turkish  life  in  general.  The  intensity 
of  the  American  desire  for  information  about  our 
'Land  of  the  Crescent'  was  most  flattering." 

The  two  great  divisions  of  Turkey  are :  Turkey 
in  Europe,  with  a  population,  including  Bulgaria 
and  East  Roumelia,  of  over  seven  millions;  and 
Turkey  in  Asia,  with  a  population  of  sixteen 
millions. 

Except  in  the  poorest  parts  of  the  Koordish 
Mountains  and  in  some  northern  portions,  the  peo- 
ple of  Turkey  live  in  comparative  comfort.  To  be 
sure,  what  is  ample  for  them  seems  to  the  foreigner 
a  very  meager  supply ;  but  it  is  still  true,  as  a  rule, 
that   they  are   in   comfort   so   far  as  the  supply  of 


90  Mission  Fields. 

bodily  needs  is  concerned.  Their  food  is  simple, 
but  wholesome.  Their  homes  are  rough,  and  furni- 
ture scanty.  It  is  when  sickness  and  old  age  bring 
weakness  and  distress  that  discomforts  principally 
appear. 

In  manners  they  are  sedate  and  dignified;  and 
their  leading  traits  of  character  are  pride,  indolence, 
and  self-indulgence,  coupled  with  the  redeeming 
virtues  of  hospitality  to  strangers,  and  strong  do- 
mestic affection. 

The  custom  of  the  country  allows  boys  and  girls 
to  play  together  until  about  eight  years  old,  and 
after  that  the  girl  wears  a  veil  whenever  she  goes 
visiting  or  shopping,  and  lives  in  the  harem  with 
the  women ;  the  boy,  from  being  altogether  among 
women  up  to  this  time,  must  henceforth  be  the 
companion  of  men  only,  and  probably  does  not 
speak  to  a  woman  till  he  is  married  to  some  un- 
known girl,  bought  or  chosen  for  him  by  his 
parents. 

In  a  missionary  point  of  view,  Turkey  is  the  key 
of  Asia.  Nowhere  has  the  providential  guidance  of 
the  missionary  work  been  more  remarkable.  The 
Divine  hand  has  alike  prepared  the  minds  of  the 
Armenian  people  in  Turkey  for  Christian  influences, 
directed  attention  thither,  blessed  the  missionaries 
with  wisdom,  interposed  continually  for  the  protec- 
tion of  their  work,  and  led  them  forward  to  a  suc- 
cess already  so  broad  and  deep  as  to  be  silently 
molding  the  destinies  of  the  empire. 


Turkey.  91 

In  "People  of  Turkey,"  the  author  says:  "I 
have  often  been  asked  what  a  Turkish  lady  does  all 
day  long.  Does  she  sleep,  or  eat  sugar-plums,  and  is 
she  kept  under  lock  and  key  by  a  Bluebeard  of  a 
husband,  who  allows  her  only  the  liberty  of  waiting 
on  him?  A  Turkish  lady  is  certainly  shut  up  in  a 
harem,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  is  at 
liberty  to  indulge  in  the  above-mentioned  luxuries 
should  she  feel  so  disposed ;  she  has  possibly  at 
times  to  submit  to  being  locked  up,  but  the  key  is 
applied  to  the  outer  gates,  and  is  left  in  the  keeping 
of  the  friendly  attendant.  In  her  home  she  is  per- 
fect mistress  of  her  time  and  of  her  property,  which 
she  can  dispose  of  as  she  thinks  proper.  Should 
she  have  cause  of  complaint  against  any  one,  she  is 
allowed  to  be  very  open  spoken,  holds  her  ground, 
and  fights  her  own  battles  with  astonishing  coolness 
and  decision. 

Turkish  ladies  appreciate  to  the  full,  as  much  as 
their  husbands,  the  virtues  of  the  indispensable  cup 
of  coffee  and  cigarette ;  this  is  their  first  item  in  the 
day's  program.  The  hanoums  may  next  take  a  bath  ; 
the  young  ladies  wash  at  the  ablest  hours;  the  slaves, 
when  they  can  find  time.  The  hanoum  will  then  at- 
tend to  her  husband's  wants,  bring  him  his  pipe  and 
coffee,  his  slippers  and  pelisse.  While  smoking,  he 
will  sit  on  the  sofa,  whilst  his  wife  occupies  a  lower 
position  near  him,  and  the  slaves  roll  up  the  bed- 
ding from  the  floor.  If  the  gentleman  be  a  govern- 
ment functionary  the  official  bag  will  be  brought  in, 


92  Mission  Fields. 

and  he  will  look  over  his  documents,  examining 
some,  affixing  his  seal  to  others,  saying  a  few  words 
in  the  intervals  to  his  wife,  who  always  addresses 
him  in  a  ceremonious  manner,  with  great  deference 
and  respect.  The  children  will  then  trot  in  to  be 
caressed,  and  ask  for  money  with  which  to  buy 
sweets  and  cakes.  The  custom  of  giving  pence  to 
children  daily  is  so  prevalent  that  it  is  practiced 
even  by  the  poor. 

The  children,  after  an  irregular  breakfast,  are 
sent  to  school,  or  allowed  to  roam  about  the  house. 

The  Mohammedan  woman,  no  less  than  her  father 
or  husband,  is  in  duty  bound  to  pray  seven  times  a 
day;  and  in  the  women's  apartments  there  is  every 
convenience  for  frequent  ablutions  required  by  their 
religion.  The  women,  in  general,  are  too  indolent 
to  undergo  much  exertion;  they  embroider  a  little, 
or  else  toy  with  the  guitar. 

The  women  of  Armenia  display  the  same  disre- 
gard to  neatness  as  Turkish  women,  without  possess- 
ing their  redeeming  point  of  cleanliness.  Of  the 
life  in  the  harem  we  get  an  intimation  from  Miss 
West's  "Komance  of  Missions,"  in  which  she  says: 
"The  inmates  of  some  of  the  Turkish  harems  in 
the  palaces,  who,  between  the  bars  of  their  gilded 
cages,  catch  glimpses  of  the  gay  life  of  the  outside 
world,  pine  for  the  freedom,  if  not  the  culture  and 
honor,  enjoyed  by  their  sister-women  of  Christian 
lands.  And  who  can  describe  the  wretchedness  and 
wrong,  the  untold  degradation  aud  corruptions,  hid- 


Turkey.  93 

den  in  the  harems  of  Turkey?  Denied  all  intel- 
lectual culture,  all  improving  intercourse  with  the 
outer  world;  shut  in  completely  to  themselves,  the 
prey  of  jealousy,  envy,  and  every  evil  passion;  cru- 
elly crushed  in  all  her  higher  instincts  and  intui- 
tions,— what  wonder  that  the  Moslem  mother  mourns 
when  a  daughter  is  born  to  her,  as  she  traces  its 
future  in  the  light  of  her  own  past  and  present 
ignominy!  For  these  ire  the  inevitable  evils  of  a 
system  so  inwrought  in  the  very  warps  of  Moslem 
social  life." 

Concerning  the  women,  an  extract  from  the 
Turkish  penal  code  reads:  "In  all  cases  of  invol- 
untary, accidental  killing,  the  price  of  blood,  for  a 
man,  is  about  $1,500;  half  that  for  accidentally 
killing  a  woman;  and  for  slaves,  according  to  their 
value,  about  one-fifth  or  one-sixth  of  the  penalty  for 
a  woman. 

"If  two  persons  are  together  guilty,  the  two 
shall  receive  each  the  full  penalty;  but  if  they  be 
husband  and  wife,  the  wife  alone  shall  be  punished." 

•»  •••  -te 

"The  darkest  hour  in  Turkish  missions,"  says 
Dr.  Pierson,  "was  reached  in  1851,  when  a  sultan 
issued  a  decree  that  all  missionaries  were  to  leave 
the  land,  and  missions  were  to  close.  Dr.  H.,  one 
of  the  American  missionaries  who  tried  in  vain  to 
get  the  decree  revoked,  called  on  Dr.  B.,  and  told 
him  the  sad  news.     But  the  Doctor,  calmly  rocking 


94  Mission  Fields. 

himself  in  his  chair,  remarked,  'The  Sultan  of  the 
universe  can  reverse  it;'  and  down  they  went  before 
God.  All  night  they  prayed.  The  next  morning  the 
sultan  died!  His  successor  never  mentioned  the  de- 
cree, and  the  missionaries  are  still  carrying  on  their 
good  work ;  and  Turkey  now  is  planted  with 
churches  from  the  Golden  Horn  to  the  Tigris  and 
the  Euphrates,  and  the  Cross  is  beginning  to  outshine 
the  Crescent." 

In  his  fascinating  book,  ''Among  the  Turks," 
Dr.  Cyrus  Hamlin  says:  "You  can  anywhere  con- 
verse with  Mohammedans  on  religious  subjects  with 
a  freedom  impossible  thirty  years  ago.  I  once  over- 
heard, in  a  steamer  on  the  Bosphorus,  some  Turks 
discussing  this  point;  and,  to  my  amazement,  they 
attributed  the  change  to  the  influence  of  American 
missions,  wholly  unaware  that  an  American  was  sit- 
ting behind  them.  By  their  books,  schools,  news- 
papers, translations  of  the  Scriptures  into  all  lan- 
guages, missions  have  had  their  influence — a  very 
wide  and  extended  one — outside  of  their  direct 
labors." 

As  an  illustration  of  missionary  results,  we  read: 
"At  Harput,  on  the  Euphrates,  one  little  mission 
Church,  in  less  than  twelve  years,  and  at  a  cost 
not  exceeding  the  expense  of  one  modern  church 
edifice,  has  multiplied  itself  into  fourteen  mission 
Churches." 

In  a  recent  incident  that  comes  from  Turkey, 
the    fellowship   of   Christians    with   each    other   and 


Turkey.  95 

with  Christ  is  touchingly  illustrated:  Rev.  Mr. 
Boolgoorjoo,  of  Marash,  writes  of  a  village,  some 
seventeen  miles  from  that  city,  which  he  visited  on 
a  recent  Sunday,  where  the  people  are  all  poor; 
their  main  occupation  being  the  bringing  of  guano 
to  the  city.  One  day  they  go  to  the  mountain  and 
bring  back  a  donkey-load  to  the  village,  and  on  the 
next  day  they  go  to  the  city  and  sell  the  load  for 
from  ten  to  fifteen  cents,  thus  earning  this  small 
sum  for  two  days'  work  for  man  and  beast.  To 
these  poor  people  Mr.  Boolgoorjoo  preached  a  ser- 
mon from  1  John  i,  3:  "That  ye  also  may  have 
fellowship  with  us,"  etc.  The  duty  of  so  acting 
that  they  might  have  fellowship  with  the  millions  in 
China  and  India  and  Africa  was  dwelt  upon,  and 
these  poor  people  responded  cheerfully.  One  gave 
two  cents,  another,  five  cents;  another,  two  quarts 
of  beans;  another,  a  donkey-load  of  wood;  and  so 
the  sum  of  one  dollar  was  raised,  and  the  pastor 
sends  it  to  be  expended  as  an  expression  of  their 
fellowship  for  the  needy  ones  in  Africa.  Hardly 
one  of  these  people  had  a  whole  suit  of  clothes;  and 
the  pastor  says  that  they  were  so  poorly  clad  that  it 
would  not  be  suitable  for  any  of  them  to  attend 
Church  iu  any  place  in  America. 


96  Mission  Fields. 


RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  places  in  Turkey  were  noted  in 
apostolic  times? 

Answer.  Philippi ;  the  seven  cities — Ephesus 
Smyrna,  Pergamos,  Laodicea,  Philadelphia,  Sardis, 
and  Thyatira — "  where  the  seven  Churches  of  Asia" 
were;  Tarsus,  and  Antioch. 

Q.  What  eminent  early  Christians  lived  and 
wrought  there? 

A.  Paul,  Timothy,  John,  Polycarp,  and  many  of 
the  early  fathers  of  post-apostolic  days. 

Q.  What  kind  of  people  are  found  in  Turkey 
now? 

A.  About  two-thirds  of  them  are  Turks,  a  few 
Jews,  Greeks,  Armenians,  Arabs,  and  individuals 
from  almost  every  known  country. 

Q.   What  is  the  government  of  Turkey? 

A.  A  religious  despotism,  based  on  the  precepts 
of  the  Koran. 

Q.   What  other  religions  are  professed? 

A.  Those  of  the  Greek,  Armenian,  and  Nesto- 
rian  Churches,  and  still  others.  There  are  three 
million  Armenians  in  Turkey.  They  are  active  and 
enterprising.  They  are  the  bankers  and  merchants 
of  the  country.  The  Greeks  are  the  remnant  of  the 
old  Byzantine  Empire,  of  which  Constantinople  was 
the  capital. 

Q.  What  kinds  of  missionary  schools  are  there? 


Turkey.  97 

A.  Common  schools,  boarding-schools,  colleges, 
and  theological  seminaries. 

Q.  What  has  been  done  for  woman  in  Turkey? 

A.  Wherever  the  gospel  has  gone  she  has  been 
trained  to  respect  herself.  She  has  been  taught  to 
read  and  to  teach.  As  she  rises,  all  classes  of  so- 
ciety will  rise  with  her.  "Turkish  women,  as  yet, 
have  scarcely  been  touched  by  the  gospel,"  says  one. 

Q.  What  can  be  said  of  one  very  remarkable 
Turkish  woman? 

A.  A  very  extraordinary  woman  was  living,  a 
short  time  ago,  at  Constantinople — Kara  Fatma, 
the  Eastern  Joan  of  Arc — who  was  known  as  "the 
Maid  of  Kurdestan."  At  one  time  she  commanded 
the  brave  but  savage  Bashi-Bazouks;  and,  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Crimean  War,  she  offered  her 
services  to  the  French  general,  Yusif,  who,  however, 
refused  to  see  her.  She  then  went  back  to  Asia, 
where  she  fought  perpetually  in  the  small  tribal 
wars.  She  was  tall  and  dark,  and,  when  sev- 
enty years  of  age,  she  still  fought  whenever  she 
could  find  an  opportunity.  Her  costume  resembled, 
as  closely  as  possible,  that  of  a  Turkish  captain. 
Her  breast  was  covered  with  military  medals,  and 
her  insignia  embroidered  on  her  coat.  The  sultan, 
from  whom  she  received  a  large  pension,  granted 
her  private  audiences,  and  made  no  secret  of  his 
opinion  that  he  considered  her  the  best  officer  in 
the  Turkish  army.  —  Englishman. 

Q.  What  glowing  tribute  does  the  author  of 
7 


98  Mission  Fields. 

"The  People  of  Turkey"  pay  to  missionary  work 
amongst  the  Turks? 

A.  "A  wish  for  instruction  is  everywhere  shown, 
and  it  has  received  a  strong  and  most  salutary  im- 
pulse from  the  numerous  American  missionaries  now 
established  throughout  Armenia.  The  untiring  ef- 
forts of  these  praiseworthy  and  accomplished  workers 
in  the  cause  of  civilization  and  humanity  are  bearing 
fruit.  They  are  working  wonders  among  the  unculti- 
vated inhabitants  of  this  hitherto  unhappy  country, 
where  mission-schools,  founded  in  all  directions,  are 
doing  the  double  service  of  instructing  the  people  by 
their  enlightened  moral  and  religious  teaching,  and 
o('  stimulating  among  the  wealthy  a  desire  to  do  for 
themselves — by  the  establishment  of  Armenian 
schools — what  American  philanthropy  has  so  nobly 
begun  to  do  for  them." 


SYRIA. 

"Syria  has  figured  prominently  in  history,  both 
profane  and  sacred.  Through  it  lies  the  great  high- 
way between  Asia  and  Africa,  which  has  been  so 
often  thronged  by  caravans  of  trade,  so  often  trod- 
den by  hosts  of  war.  Here  was  unrolled  the  an- 
cient Revelation  of  the  true  God.  Patriarchs  wan- 
dered here.  Prophet  and  apostle  lived  and  labored 
here.      Highest   of  all,  here   occurred   the   life,  the 


Syria.  99 

toils,  the  sorrow,  the  death,  the  rising  again,  of  our 
Lord.  It  was  here  that  Bar na has  and  Saul  were 
sent  forth  as  the  first  missionaries  to  the  Gentile 
world.  Of  what  other  land  is  the  evangelization  so 
imperative,  so  interesting?" 

<;Of  the  morals  of  the  Syrians,  the  less  said  the 
better.  The  Druses,  though  courteous,  are  cruel, 
fanatical,  and,  to  strangers,  deceitful.  The  Nusai- 
reeyehs  are  blood-thirsty.  Polygamy  is  common. 
Divorce  occurs  at  the  will  of  the  man.  The  Bed- 
ouins, though  hospitable  and  often  magnanimous, 
are  fierce,  revengeful,  and  depraved.  The  non- 
Mussulmans  are  idolatrous  and  debased.  In  general, 
the  population  is  ignorant  and  corrupt;  and,  as  in 
all  Mohammedan  countries,  woman  is  held  in  low 
esteem." 

Syrians  are  polite  in  the  extreme;  delight  in 
neighborly  chat;  have  joyous  feast-days;  and  live  a 
happy,  rather  indolent,  life.  They  are  very  fond  of 
music.  Shepherd-boys  still  picturesquely  play  the 
simple  reed  as  they  wander  with  their  flock.  Among 
the  middle  and  upper  classes  there  are  many  home 
comforts.  The  reverence  of  son  for  father,  and 
many  Syrian  characteristics,  are  admirable.  Syria 
is  a  land  of  homes,  and  in  this  center  lie  the  hopes 
lor  the  country. 

•a  •••  k 

"How  few  of  the  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
women  in  Syria  know  how  to  read!  How  few  are 
the    schools    ever    established    there    for    teaching 


100  Mission  Fields. 

women !  Any  one  who  denies  the  degradation  and 
ignorance  of  Syrian  women  would  deny  the  exist- 
ence of  the  noonday  sun." 

■a  •••  •[«• 

Calls  for  more  schools  come  from  every  part  of 
Syria;  and  the  demand  for  trained  workers  from 
Palestine,  Northern  Syria,  and  the  Egyptian  mis- 
sionaries is  far  larger  every  year  than  can  be 
supplied. 

A  Mt.  Lebanon  proverb  reads:  "The  threshold 
weeps  forty  days  when  a  girl  is  born." 

Layyah  Barakat,  a  Syrian  woman,  says:  "The 
only  difference  between  the  American  and  Syrian 
woman  is,  that  one  has  lived  under  the  shadows  of 
the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  other  under 
the  Mohammedan  Koran.  I  have  been  in  Egypt 
and  in  Syria,  in  France  and  England,  and  nowhere 
have  I  seen  women  so  happy,  so  blest,  as  in  your 
own  beautiful  America." 

The  mass  of  the  Moslem  men  are  bitterly  op- 
posed to  the  instruction  of  women;  and,  further- 
more, we  read,  in  "The  Women  of  the  Arabs:" 
"When  a  man  does  decide  to  have  his  wife  taught 
to  read,  the  usual  plan  is  to  hire  a  blind  sheikh, 
who  knows  the  Koran  by  heart.  He  sits  at  one 
side  of  the  room,  aud  she  at  th*  other,  some  elderly 
woman   being   present   also.     The  mass  of  the  Mo- 


Syria.  101 

hammedans  are  nervously  afraid  of  intrusting  the 
knowledge  of  reading  and  writing  to  their  wives 
and  daughters,  lest  they  abuse  it  by  writing  clan- 
destine letters."  From  Dr.  Jessup  we  learn  that 
the  poetesses  of  the  Arabs  are  numerous,  and  some 
of  them  hold  a  high  rank  in  cases  where  education 
has  been  extended  them. 

No    Mohammedan   ever   walks   with  his  wife  in 
the  street;  and  in  Moslem  cities  very  few,  if  any,  of 
the   men   of  other  sects  are   willing   to   be  seen  in 
public  in  company  with  a  woman.     The  women  are 
closely  veiled ;    and  if  a  man  and  his  wife  have  oc- 
casion  to   go  anywhere   together,    he   walks  in  ad- 
vance, and  she  walks  a  long  distance   behind  him. 
The  scourging  and  beating  of  wives  is  one  of  the 
worst  features   of   Moslem    domestic   life.      It   is  a 
practice  which  has  the  sanction  of  the   Koran,  and 
will  be  indulged  in  without  rebuke  as  long  as  Islam, 
as    a   system    and    a    faith,    prevails   in    the    world. 
Happily   for   the   poor  women,  the  husbands  do  not 
generally  beat   them   so  as  to  imperil  their  lives,  in 
case   their   own    relatives  reside  in  the  vicinity,  lest 
the    excruciating   screams   of   the    suffering    should 
reach   the  ears  of  her   relatives  and  bring  the  hus- 
band  into  disgrace.     But  where  there  is  no  fear  of 
discovery,  blows   and  kicks  are  applied  in  the  most 
merciless  and  barbarous  manner.     Women  are  killed 
in  this  way,  and  no  outsider  knows   the  cause.     In 
most   parts   of  Syria   to-day   the  murder  of  women 
and   girls  is  au  act  so  insignificant  as  hardly  to  de- 


102  Mission  Fields. 

serve  notice.  Mt.  Lebanon  and  vicinity  constitute 
an  exception  perhaps;  but  woman's  right  to  life  is 
one  of  those  rights  which  have  not  yet  been  fully 
guaranteed. 

"In  the  reformation  of  a  nation,  then,  the  first 
step  in  the  ladder  is  the  education  of  the  women 
from  their  childhood;  and  those  who  neglect  the 
women  and  girls,  and  expect  the  elevation  of  a 
people  by  the  mere  training  of  men  and  boys,  are 
like  one  walking  with  one  foot  on  the  earth  and  the 
other  in  the  clouds.  They  build  a  wall,  and  woman 
tears  down  a  castle.  They  elevate  boys  one  degree, 
and  women  depress  them  many  degrees." 

4*  •••  fe 

The  Christian  Alliance  has  the  following  on 
Syrian  customs,  as  illustrating  Bible  truths:  "Let 
me  tell  you  a  little  of  the  life  of  an  Oriental  girl," 
says  the  writer,  "and  to  give  you  a  picture  of  her 
as  she  enters  into  the  marriage  relation.  A  girl  in 
an  Oriental  family  of  high  rank  must  be  a  bride  at 
the  age  of  nine,  ten,  or  twelve  years.  A  girl  who 
lives  to  be  fifteen  years  old  without  being  married 
is  an  old  maid.  When  she  is  married  she  becomes 
the  slave  of  her  mother-in-law.  A  young  man  in 
that  country  can  not  marry  until  he  is  able  to  earn 
a  bride.  If  he  belongs  to  the  lower  class  he  can 
buy  a  good  one  for  seven  or  eight  dollars.  If  he 
is  in  the  higher  class  he  may  have  to  pay  five,  six, 
or  seven  thousand  dollars  for  her.     He   never  goes 


Syria.  103 

to  court  her  himself,  but  when  he  is  ready  to  buy 
a  wife  he  employs  a  friend  to  go  and  look  up  one 
for  him.  This  friend  will  send  a  female  relative  to 
the  home  of  a  young  woman  of  whom  he  has  been 
told,  and  there  will  be  a  great  hand-shaking.  A 
cup  of  coffee  is  always  brought  to  the  visitor,  but  she 
refuses  to  take  it;  she  is  not  ready.  When  a  visitor 
stays  too  long,  it  is  customary  to  bring  her  a  sec- 
ond cup  of  coffee,  to  let  her  know  the  time  has 
come  for  her  to  depart.  So  they  bring  her  a  sec- 
ond cup,  but  she  will  not  take  it;  her  mission  is  not 
yet  performed.  Finally,  she  tells  them  they  have  a 
daughter  whom  she  would  like  to  see.  They  go  for 
her;  but  she  is  hidden  away  in  her  room,  and  has 
to  be  called  several  times  before  she  will  answer. 
When  she  finally  is  coaxed  out,  she  immediately 
hands  the  visitor  another  cup  of  coffee,  as  a  signal 
that  she  had  better  go;  but  the  visitor  gets  hold  of 
her,  lifts  her  veil,  and  examines  her  carefully.  If 
she  is  pleased,  she  goes  back  and  praises  her  to  the 
groom,  who  will  sit  for  hours  and  listen  to  the  de- 
scription. Then  he  gets  an  influential  friend  to 
bargain  for  her  with  her  father.  If  he  does  not  pay 
this  friend  sufficiently,  he  will  advise  the  father  not 
to  consent  to  the  arrangement,  that  this  man  will 
treat  her  badly  and  beat  her.  If,  however,  the  ar- 
rangement is  satisfactory,  the  father  will  say,  'My 
daughter  is  a  slave  to  your  friend ;'  she  is  no  longer 
the  property  of  her  father.  In  preparing  for  the 
wedding,  the  father  is  expected  to  spend  a  great  deal 


104  Mission  Fields. 

of  money  on  her  jewels;  and  when  the  marriage-day 
comes,  her  dress  is  heavy  with  gold  and  jewels,  and 
she  is  fairly  loaded  down  with  them.  But  she  has 
never  seen  her  groom.  She  has  been  told  wonder- 
ful things  about  him,  yet  she  has  never  seen  him. 
As  the  time  arrives,  the  friends  of  the  groom  form 
a  procession,  and,  with  their  lamps  filled  with  olive- 
oil,  go  out  with  him  and  parade  the  streets.  Only 
those  of  their  own  rank  are  invited.  At  last  the 
bride  comes,  and  her  maids  are  singing  joyfully,  and 
all  the  people  in  the  street  can  see  her.  Then  they 
go  into  the  house,  and  the  marriage  ceremony  is 
performed;  but  she  has  never  yet  seen  him.  After 
the  ceremony  is  over,  he  lifts  her  veil,  and  she  be- 
holds him  for  the  first  time  in  all  his  glory." 

•»  •••  &> 

In  spite  of  great  difficulties,  however,  Syria  has 
for  seventy  years  been  the  scene  of  most  faithful 
missionary  effort.  If  there  were  times  of  quiet, 
there  were  also  times  of  persecution.  More  than 
once  has  the  land  seen  massacres,  and  the  mission 
has  produced  more  than  a  few  martyrs.  In  all 
Syria,  with  Palestine,  some  thirty  societies  are  en- 
gaged, doing  preaching,  teaching,  and  hospital- 
work. 

Beirut  is  to-day  a  Christian  city.  Stately 
churches;  hospitals;  a  female  seminary;  a  college, 
whose  graduates  are  scattered  over  Syria,  Egypt, 
and  wherever  the  Arab  roams;    a  theological  sem- 


Syria.  105 

inary;  a  common-school  system;  and  steam  printing- 
presses, — all  tell  of  its  prosperity. 

Jerusalem  has  its  streets  lighted,  and  clocks  are 
seen  on  its  public  buildings,  and  sanitary  science  is 
being  respected. 

Bethlehem  has  paved  streets,  and  over  all  the 
land  the  light  begins  to  shine.  "The  King  cometh ; 
and  a  voice  is  heard  again,  as  of  old,  Prepare  ye  the 
way  of  the  Lord." 

■»  •••  -IR- 
RESPONSIVE EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  people  inhabit  Syria? 

Answer.  The  people  are  Arabs  in  race  and  lan- 
guage. 

Q.  Who  are  the  Bedouins? 

A.  The  Bedouins  live  in  the  desert.  They 
have  fine  horses  and  camels,  live  in  tents,  and  are 
nomads,  roving  from  place  to  place. 

Q.  What  is  the  religion  of  the  people? 

A.  The  people  are  divided  into  Mohammedans, 
Druses,  and  the  nominal  Christian  sects;  the  latter 
are  the  remnants  of  the  early  Oriental  Churches, 
now  known  as  Maronite,  Greek,  and  Greek  Cath- 
olic. The  Druses  have  a  weird,  mystical  religion, 
of  which  little  is  known.  The  Bedouin  Arabs  are 
Moslems,  but  may  be  said  to  have  no  religion. 

Q.  What  is  the  language  of  Syria? 

A.  Arabic,  the  language  of  the   Koran — the  re- 


106  Mission  Fields. 

ligious  book  of  the  Mohammedans — and  familiar  in 
that  way  to  185,000,000  of  the  huraau  race.  It  is 
spoken  by  60,000,000  of  people. 

Q.   What  is  the  condition  of  the  women? 

A.  Among  the  Mohammedans  they  are  degraded 
and  ignorant;  abused  by  their  fathers,  husbands, 
and  sons;  made  to  labor  in  the  fields  like  animals; 
and  treated  as  slaves.  They  are  thought  to  have 
no  minds,  and  to  be  incapable  of  learning.  Great 
sorrow  is  manifested  when  a  daughter  is  born,  and 
a  man  never  counts  his  daughters  when  speaking  of 
his  children. 

Q.  What  obstacles  had  to  be  overcome  in  the 
first  effort  to  educate  the  girls? 

A.  It  was  almost  impossible  to  induce  parents  to 
allow  their  daughters  to  be  educated. 

Q.  What  has  been  gained  in  this  respect? 

A.  Wonderful  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
last  thirty  years.  A  large  number  of  girls  have 
been  educated  in  mission-schools  who  are  now  heads 
of*  Christian  families,  and  there  are  7,000  girls  in 
evangelical  schools  in  Syria  and  Palestine. 

Q.   What  is  the  dress  of  the  women? 

A.  They  wear  wide  trousers,  with  a  loose,  long 
garment  over  them.  The  hair  is  generally  worn  in 
many  long  braids,  hanging  down  the  back,  with  a 
cap  on  the  head.  In  the  cities  they  never  go  out 
without  wrapping  themselves  from  head  to  foot  in 
a  huge  white  sheet,  and  veiling  their  faces  closely. 
In    the   villages    they    wear   long  white  veils,  which 


Syria.  107 

they  draw  across  their  faces,  leaving  one  eye  ex- 
pose. I. 

Q.    How  are  the  houses  built? 

A.  The  houses  are  all  built  of  stone.  In  the 
cities  the  universal  style  of  architecture  is  a  central 
court,  wiili  rooms  around  it.  The  houses  in  the 
mountain  villages  generally  consist  of  but  one  room, 
with  a  mud-floor,  no  windows,  and  a  small  door. 
The  roofs  are  flat,  and  are  used  for  spreading  fruit 
and  wheat  to  dry,  and  the  family  often  sleep  there 
during  the  hot  season.  The  Mohammedans  pray  on 
their  house-tops. 

Q.   How  are  the  houses  furnished? 

A.  The  houses  have  mats  and  rugs  on  the  floor; 
along  the  walls  are  low  divans  and  cushioned  backs. 
They  have  no  chairs,  or  tables,  except  a  small  one 
at  which  they  eat.  Their  beds  are  spread  on  the 
fl'ior  at  night,  and  during  the  day  are  rolled  up  and 
put  away  in  ch>sets. 

Q.  How  do  the  funeral  customs  differ  from 
our-? 

A.  As  soon  as  death  comes,  the  air  is  filled  with 
the  noise  of  wailing  and  shrieking  by  women — often 
hired  for  the  purpose — and  the  funeral  takes  place 
almost  immediately.  The  Mohammedans  use  a  bier 
which  is  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  men,  and  each 
one  in  the  procession  is  desirous  of  bearing  it  for  a 
short  distance.  The  Mohammedans  do  not  use  cof- 
fins, as  their  dead  are  buried  in  a  sitting  posture 

Q.   What  are  some  Bible  customs  still  in  vogue? 


108  Mission  Fields. 

A.  The  placing  of  the  blind  and  crippled  by  the 
wayside  to  beg;  praying  on  the  house-tops;  the  sal- 
utations; and  the  customs  in  buying  and  selling, 
in  building,  traveling,  in  agriculture,  in  dress,  and 
food. 

Q.  How  many  children  are  there  in  all  the  Prot- 
estant schools  in  Syria  and  Palestine? 

A.  Over  15,000.  —Anna  H.  Jessup. 


PERSIA. 

Persia  constitutes  one  of  the  most  interesting 
mission-fields  in  the  world.  That  which  gives  to  the 
Nestorians,  in  particular,  a  peculiar  iuterest  is  the 
missionary  character  which  they  have  once  borne, 
and  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  they  will  bear  again. 
Persia  is  ruined  by  despotism,  misrule,  and  cruel 
feudal  oppression.  No  lover  of  humanity  can  re- 
gard such  a  land  but  with  feelings  of  profound  pity. 
"We  long  for  the  day,"  says  a  missionary,  "when 
civilization  will  build  highways  and  railways  by 
which  charity,  at  least,  can  be  conveyed  to  the  fam- 
ishing. A  proper  system  of  roads,  and  one  or  two 
railroads,  in  Persia  would  make  famines  impossible. 
The  country  has  natural  resources  which  only  need 
developing,  to  make  her,  as  in  ancient  times,  a  great 
nation." 


Persia.  109 

From  Karachi  to  Bagdad ;  among  the  populous 
cities  and  villages  of  the  Persian  Gulf,  of  the  Tigris 
and  Euphrates;  throughout  Arabia,  throughout 
South  and  Southwest  Persia, — not  a  missionary ! 
From  Bagdad  to  Teheran — almost  the  most  populous 
district  of  Persia — not  a  missionary!  The  great 
oasis  of  Feraghan,  at  a  height  of  7,000  feet,  with 
680  villages,  craving  medical  advice,  never  visited — 
scarcely  mapped!  Then  Julfa  and  Hamadan,  with 
their  few  workers,  almost  powerless  to  itinerate, 
represent  the  work  of  the  Church  for  the  remainder 
of  Persia!  Two  million  nomads  that  have  never 
been  touched  1  — Medical  Missions. 

"When  I  think  of  all  I  have  seen  and  heard  in 
Persia,  I  sometimes  think  I  have  almost  seen  into 
hell."  — Mes.  Rhea. 

•»  -r  * 

Persia,  the  land  of  Cyrus,  and  of  the  great  em- 
pires of  the  Euphrates,*  the  land  in  which  Daniel 
prayed  and  prophesied, — with  a  written  history 
dating  from  1900  B.  C,  though  now  much  reduced 
in  size,  is  yet  twice  as  large  as  the  German  Empire, 
having  450,000  square  miles.  The  author  of  "Per- 
sia; Eastern  Mission,"  says:  "All  the  people  feel 
the  result  of  the  defects  of  their  civilization  and 
habits  of  life.  All  the  people,  without  exception  of 
race  or  religion,  are  extremely  poor,  save  a  few  men 


110  Mission  Fields. 

who  have  inherited  titles  or  been  especially  favored 
by  the  Government.  These  men  of  wealth  do  not 
usually  reside  in  the  districts  in  which  their  estates 
lie,  but  resort  to  the  capital  and  the  large  cities. 
The  people  live  in  villages,  composed  of  hovels  con- 
structed of  sun-dried  bricks  or  of  mud  The  dress 
and  appearance  of  the  inhabitants  of  these  villages 
are  in  keeping  with  the  aspect  of  the  hovels  in 
which  they  live.  The  garments  of  the  women  are 
tattered  and  dirty.  The  apparel  of  the  men  is  not 
much  better.  It  could  not  be  expected  that  such  a 
people  would  be  examples  of  cleanliness.  In  this 
particular  they  may  compare  well  with  the  poor  of 
other  countries;  but  no  European  or  North  Amer- 
ican country  presents  such  a  continuous,  unmitigated 
pest  of  vermin  as  belongs  to  all  places,  persons,  and 
things  in  Persia.  The  peasants  and  masses  of  the 
people  are  covered  with  vermin.  The  beggar  and 
tramp  may  lie  down  to-night  on  the  earth  and  floor 
in  the  room  where,  to-morrow  night,  the  prime 
minister  or  the  shah  may  have  to  spread  his  carpet. 
Places  of  public  resort  are  free  to  all.  In  the 
mosques  the  people  sit  upon  the  floor.  The  public 
baths  are  underground  dens,  reeking  with  filth." 

The  Persians  are  more  liberal  than  other  Mo- 
hammedan nations;  and  it  is  almost  an  unheard-of 
thing  for  an  Arab  or  a  Turk  to  discuss  his  religion 
with  a  Christian,  but  the  Persian  enjoys  it. 


Persia.  Ill 

"Or  tlie  long  chain   of    Moslem   lands  from  the 
Pillars  of   Hercules  to   India   and    China,   the   two 
links    that    are    weakest,"   says    Dr.    Shedd,    "are 
Egypt   and    Persia.     If  strong   Christian    influence 
prevail    in    either    of    these,    the    chain    is    broken. 
The  hope  in  the  case  of  Persia  is  growing  brighter; 
there   are    more   signs   of   progress   in    opening   the 
country  to  commerce  and  to  Christian  influence  than 
in    centuries    before."      The    ruling    shah    feels   the 
touch  of  modern  ideas,  and,  through  a   ministry  on 
the  European  model,  has  introduced  banks,  gas,  tele- 
graphs, and   street-railway.     There   has  never   been 
any  objection  to  Bible  teachings  in  the  country,  and 
those   in    authority  desire   to  grant  religious  tolera- 
tion.    The  mission-schools  are  permeating  the  country 
with  their    uplifting   influences,  and    the    Churches 
are  developing  men  and  women  of  most  Christ-like 
character.     Many  of  the  converted  natives  show  an 
admirable    spirit    of    self-sacrifice    and    generosity. 
There   are    native    members  of   Churches,  many  of 
whom    get   but   three   dollars    wages   a  month,  and 
who  cheerfully  give   a  tenth   of  that  sum  to  their 
Churches.      Speaking    of    a    woman    converted    to 
Christianity,  and  of  the  spotless  life  she   afterwards 
led,  a  missionary  says:    "She  was  the  best  theologian 
among  the   Nestorians;    and  often  have  I  said  that 
if  I  wanted  to  write  a  good  sermon,  I  would  like  to 
sit  down  first  and  talk  with  her,  and   then   be   sure 
she  was  praying  for  me." 


112  Mission  Fields. 

The  women  of  Persia !  We  imagine  them  queenly 
beings — dark-haired,  dark-eyed  houris — capable  of 
the  fondest  and  most  passionate  attachments,  and 
faithful  until  death.  We  think  of  them  in  palatial 
harems,  reclining  on  silken  cushions,  sipping  their 
nectar  drinks,  singing  the  loves  of  nightingale  and 
rose  to  the  gentle  tones  of  the  soft  guitar,  which 
vibrates  to  the  skillful  touch  of  the  snowy  fingers, 
flashing  with  costly  gems!  Such  is  the  Persia  of 
romance,  and  so  often  pictured  to  us  in  song  and 
story. 

But  alas !  alas !  the  woof  and  web  of  the  weav- 
ing is  all  fancy,  and  we  find  in  the  real  Persia  of 
to-day  nothing  desirable,  nothing  romantic,  nothing 
attractive,  except  as  the  love  of  Christ  draws  us  to 
the  neediest,  the  vilest,  the  lowest,  and  the  most  repul- 
sive of  our  fellow-creatures.  If  you  could  look 
upon  the  women  of  Persia,  that  look  would  suffice, 
and  I  should  not  need  to  add  another  word  in  their 
behalf.  Your  hearts  would  melt  in  pity,  your 
prayers  ascend  to  God,  and  your  hands  reach  out  to 
help  them. 

Let  us  look  more  closely  at  the  women  of  Persia. 
They  come  into  the  world  unwelcome.  No  father 
or  mother  rejoices  at  the  birth  of  a  female  child ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  sorrow  is  openly  expressed, 
and  the  friends  come  to  condole  with  them.  But 
when  a  boy  is  born  the  father  gives  presents,  and 
the  friends  come  to  offer  congratulations,  and  "  bless 
the  foot  of  the  lad;"    a  feast  ensues,  and   happiness 


Persia.  113 

prevails.  It  is  told  far  and  near,  as  the  best  ot 
news,  that  a  son  is  born  to  such  a  house.  Wheu 
the  people  wish  to  say  the  kindest  and  most  polite 
tilings  possible,  it  is  always  in  one  form — "The 
Lord  give  thee  a  son!"  Even  the  beggars  in  the 
streets  return  their  blessing  for  a  crust  or  a  cent. 

A  parent  in  counting  his  children,  even  when 
you  ask  their  number,  mentions  only  the  boys,  the 
girls  being  unworthy  of  note.  The  little  girl,  if 
she  is  able  to  survive  the  hardships  of  a  neglected 
and  unloved  infancy — which  often  crush  out  the 
tender  life — grows  up  neglected  and  unloved  still. 
As  soon  as  she  can  work  and  bear  burdens,  the 
heaviest  are  laid  on  her  young  shoulders,  and  fast- 
ened there  by  cruel  blows.  She  learns  to  share 
with  her  mother  in  menial  toil,  and  soon  sinks  down 
naturally  and  uncomplainingly  to  her  level  with  the 
donkeys. 

Donkeys  are  universal  beasts  of  burden,  and 
women  are  classed  with  them.  Sometimes  a  woman 
and  a  donkey  are  harnessed  together  in  the  same 
plow;  and  even  if  this  is  not  done,  exactly  the  same 
kinds  of  burdens  are  put  on  both. 

I  have  seen  the  Koordish  women  often  carrying, 
up  and  down  the  mountain,  great  loads  of  hay  and 
fuel,  many  times  larger  than  themselves;  so  large 
indeed,  and  so  covering  them  up,  that  at  a  little 
distance  they  look  like  trees  walking.  Perhaps  a 
heavy  load  was  on  their  backs  and  a  baby  in  their 
arms,  and  at  their  sides  their  lords  would  walk  or 
8 


114  Mission  Fields. 

ride,  unable  to  support  more  than  their  own  dignity. 
Every  Persian  woman  expects  to  be  her  husband's 
slave,  and  to  be  tyrannized  over  by  him  without 
restraint.  She  obeys  him  to  the  last  degree  of  ser- 
vility; waits  while  he  eats;  veils  herself  closely  and 
oppressively  from  the  time  of  her  marriage;  and, 
lest  she  should  speak  above  a  whisper,  bandages  her 
mouth  up  tight.  Mohammedanism,  the  religion  of 
Persia,  sanctions  polygamy.  Its  victims  endure  lives 
embittered  and  degraded  by  its  influence,  or  die  of 
broken  hearts,  and  make  no  sign.  Thus  treated 
and  degraded,  it  seems  as  if  there  were  no  oppor- 
tunity left  for  woman  in  Persia  to  do  aught  but  to 
sink  to  the  level  of  the  beast.  Almost  every  word 
that  has  been  touchingly  said  of  the  women  in 
India  can  be  truthfully  said  of  the  women  of  Per- 
sia, and  no  one  can  reach  the  women  but  women. 

— Mrs.  Rhea. 

RESPONSIVE   EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  interesting  historical  association 
has  Persia? 

Answer.  History  and  science  combine  with  the 
testimony  of  Scripture  to  point  out  this  region  a«= 
the  cradle  of  our  race.  Persia  is  notably  a  Bible 
land.  To  it  belonged  Cyrus  the  Great;  Darius,  his 
son;  Xerxes — the  Ahasuerus  of  Ezra;  Artaxerxes; 
Esther;    Mordecai;    and  the  "wise  men,"  who  were 


Persia.  115 

the  first  of  the  Gentile  world  to  greet  and  worship 
the  Messiah.  When  Assyria  had  led  the  Jews  cap- 
tive to  Babylon,  it  was  Persia  which  humbled  the 
power,  and  restored  Judah  to  her  native  land. 

Q.  What  is  the  population? 

A.  The  census  is  not  accurate,  but  late  estimates 
[rive  the  population  at  8,000,000.  Of  this  number, 
23,000  are  Nestorians;  19,000  Jews;  43,000  Ar- 
menians; 675,000  Koords  and  Sikhs.  The  remain- 
der of  the  population  comprises  Arabs,  Turks,  Pai- 
sees,  and  Persians. 

Q.  Describe  the  Persian  houses. 

A.  The  houses  of  the  poor  people  contain  one 
long  room,  with  a  door  in  one  end,  no  window,  and 
a  conical  opening  in  the  roof  for  the  smoke  to  es- 
cape and  the  light  to  enter.  The  roofs  are  flat,  and 
in  summer  time  the  people  sleep  upon  them.  Some 
houses  have  an  upper  room  built  on  the  roof,  which 
is  reached  by  a  ladder  on  the  outside.  The  rich 
live  in  well-built  two-story  houses.  One  and  a  half- 
miilion  of  the  population  live  in  tents  during  the 
summer.  The  Persians  use  no  furniture;  they  eat, 
sit,  and  sleep  on  the  floors,  which  are  made  of 
hard,  smooth  earth,  covered  with  matting  and 
carpet. 

Q.   Describe  the  Persian  men. 

A.  They  are  fond  of  dress  and  show;  very  po- 
lite, hospitable,  and  obliging.  They  are  kind  to 
their  children  ;  respectful  to  their  parents,  particu- 
larly  the   father,  in   whose  presence  they  rarely  sit. 


1 16  Mission  Fields. 

Respect  is  paid  to  the  aged,  and  the  support  of  the 
parents  is  never  looked  on  as  a  burden.  But  as  a 
race  they  are  very  untruthful  and  procrastinating. 

Q.   Is  poly^nmy  common? 

A.  Not  among  the  poorer  classes,  but  it  is  gen- 
eral with  the  rich.  Divorces  are  frequent,  and  easily 
obtained  by  all  Mohammedans. 

Q.  Tell  something  about  education  in  Persia. 

A.  Every  city  or  town  has  its  school  for  boys, 
held  in  the  mosques,  and  taught  by  the  Mullahs. 
The  children  study  aloud,  and  can  be  heard  a  half 
a  block  away.  They  are  all  taught  to  read  in  Per- 
sian and  Arabic;  some  of  them  learn  to  write,  and 
learn  the  use  of  figures. 

Q.   Have  the  Persians  any  literature? 

A.  There  are  few  books  of  any  kind.  The  an- 
cient poetry  is  the  principal  literature,  and  the 
quoting  of  poetry  is  universal,  being  frequently  in- 
troduced into  conversation. 

Q.  Are  the  women  educated? 

A.  There  are  no  schools  for  girls,  but  the  daugh- 
ters of  the  rich  are  sometimes  taught  to  read  and 
write  and  to  recite  poetry. 

Q.  What  is  the  form  of  government? 

A.  The  shah  of  Persia  is  regarded  as  the  vice- 
gerent of  Mohammed,  and  as  such  demands  implicit 
obedience. 

Q.  Who  are  the  Koords? 

A.  They  are  the  mountain  tribes  of  Koordistan, 
and   are  a  wild,  lawless  people,  much  given  to  rob- 


BURMAH.  117 

bery,  and  making  raids  on  the  other  tribes  or  vil- 
lages of  the  plain.'  Over  1,000,000  of  the  Koorda 
nre  subjects  of  the  sultan  of  Turkey,  and  about 
750,000  are  under  Persian  rule. 

Q.   Who  are  the  Nestorians? 

A.  The  Nestorians  derive  their  name  from  Nes- 
torius,  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  who  lived  about 
A.  D.  428.  The  Nestorians  of  the  present  day  are 
settled  on  Turkish  soil — mainly  in  Koordistan — and 
on  Persian  soil  in  the  fertile  plain  to  the  west  of 
Lake  Oroomeeyah. 

Q.   Who  are  the  Armenians? 

A.  They  are  a  Christian  sect,  and  are  found  in 
ancient  Armenia,  with  Tabriz  as  their  center.  They 
adhere  to  the  seven  sacraments  of  the  Romi.-h 
Church,  perform  baptism  by  immersion,  and  believe 
in  the  mediation  of  saints  and  the  worship  of  images. 

Woman's  Forkign  Missionary  Society,  Presby- 
terian Church. 

BURMAH. 

Burmaii  is  about  equal  in  area  to  New  England, 
the  Middle  States,  Ohio,  Indiana,  and  Illinois  com- 
bined. Its  population  is  about  10,000,000.  There 
are  said  to  be  forty-two  different  races,  and  between 
the  three  principal  nationalities — the  Burmans, 
Shans,  and  Karens — marked  differences  exist.  The 
Burmans    are    intelligent,    haughty,   and    indolent. 


118  Mission  Fields. 

The  Shaus  are  equally  intelligent,  less  proud,  more 
diligent  and  active.  Both  tribes  are  Buddhists. 
The  Karens  are  by  far  the  most  docile  and  lovable. 
They  have  been  crushed  by  oppressive  Burman  rule, 
and  there  is  an  element  of  sadness  in  their  disposi- 
tion. They  worship  spirits,  and  seem  more  suscep- 
tible to  the  gospel.  The  people  of  Burmah  are  a 
hardy  race,  and  -are  capable  of  greater  things  as  a 
whole  than  the  people  of  India.  Education  to 
some  extent  is  common,  as  most  of  the  men  can 
read  and  write.  They  have  acquired  some  of  the 
arts  of  civilization,  which  they  practice  in  rather  a 
crude  manner.  The  people  are  courteous,  and 
rather  prepossessing  in  appearance.  They  are  con- 
tented with  little,  and  much  more  inclined  to  sport 
and  idleness  than  to  labor.  They  can  not  be  called 
an  industrious  people.  The  resources  of  the  country 
are  being  rapidly  developed.  Merchandise  is  now 
packed  on  mules,  and  carried  for  a  distance  of  a 
thousand  miles;  but  greater  railway  facilities  are 
projected,  and,  when  done,  Burmah  will  rise  higher 
in  commercial  importance. 

Writing  of  the  Karens,  and  of  the  treatment 
they  receive  from  the  Burmaus,  Mrs.  Armstrong 
says:  "Their  crops  and  cattle  were  stolen,  and  they 
were  caught  and  sold  as  slaves,  so  that  they  lived 
in  constant  terror.  They  bid  themselves  in  the  jun- 
gles and  the  mountain-sides,  concealing  the  paths  to 
their  bamboo  houses,  and  constantly  moving  from 
one  place  to  another  to  avoid  detection.     Their  re- 


BURMAH.  119 

ligion  was  peculiar  to  themselves.     They  lived  hon- 
est, truthful  lives,  were  hospitable  in  their  way,  and 
had    no    idols.      They   made    offerings  to   propitiate 
evil  spirits,  whom  they  feared.     They  had  no  books; 
but   they    had    carefully   preserved    legends,    which 
were   carefully    handed    down    from    father   to   son. 
Their  traditions  told  that  once  they  had  God's  Book; 
but  they  were  disobedient,  and  their  younger  brother 
carried    it   away.      Some    day    their    white    brother 
would  come  across  the  sea  in  a  ship,  and  bring  back 
the  Book  which  told  of   the   Great   Father  and  the 
life  to  come.     They  must  watch  for  its  coming.     No 
wonder   such    a   people    should    receive    the   gospel 
when  it  came.     No  people  have  ever  been  discovered 
who  were  so  prepared  for  it,  and  whose  very  preju- 
dices  were   on    its   side.     When    missionaries   came 
among  them,  their  old    men  said,  'This  is  what  our 
fathers  told  us  of!'     Their  simple   faith  took  Christ 
at  his  word.     They  did  not  question,  but  believed." 

SocrAL  life  in  Burmah  is  freer,  happier,  and 
more  comfortable  than  in  many  parts  of  Asia. 
Young  people  marry  earlier  than  in  America;  and 
are  not  fettered  for  life  by  marriages  made  by  their 
parents  in  their  childhood,  as  in  some  countries. 

The  appearance  of  Burman  houses  evinces  the 
indolent  and  aimless  life  of  their  occupants.  Often 
built  of  bamboo  and  thatch — which  a  few  days' 
labor  may  cut  in  the  neighboring  jungle — without  a 


120  Mission  Fields. 

single  nail  or  screw,  and  without  the  expenditure  of 
money,  it  suffices  lor  their  comfort.  Three  rooms 
constitute  the  house,  which  is  built  upon  posts,  and 
underneath  are  kept  any  animals  the  family  may  have. 

Children  go  without  clothing  until  about  eight 
years  old.  Babies  learn  to  smoke  and  chew  the 
betel-nut,  and  other  herbs,  before  they  are  two 
years  old. 

As  a  people  the  Burmans  are  very  musical,  and 
music  enters  largely  into  all  matters  of  social  im- 
portance ;  and  the  love  of  it  finds  expression  in 
the  manufacture  and  employment  of  a  variety  of  in- 
struments. 

They  have  no  Sabbath;  but  every  eighth  day 
from  the  new  moon  is  a  worship-day,  and  special 
offerings  are  carried  to  the  pagodas.  The  social  ele- 
ment enters  largely  into  the  religious  observances. 
At  their  holy  festival  they  make  costly  offerings  to 
the  priests  and  idols,  the  men  decorating  the  idol- 
houses  with  images,  and  the  women  giving  robes  to 
the  priests.  They  give  always  of  their  best  to 
their  gods. 

Children,  even,  are  trained  to  give  to  the  idols 
some  of  their  pretty  things  that  they  would  much 
rather  keep  for  themselves.  Oriental  children,  as 
well  as  their  seniors,  are  carefully  taught  in  the 
great  lesson  of  giving,  and  they  practice  it  always 
and  everywhere — to  their  gods,  their  friends,  the 
priests,  the  poor,  and  the  stranger.  Hospitality  to 
strangers  is  the  cardinal  virtue  of  the  East;  and  al- 


BURMAH.  121 

most  any  Oriental,  rich  or  poor,  would  rather  starve 
himself  than  suffer  his  guest  to  want. 

While  the  Buddhist  priests  claim  to  be  learned, 

.hey  are  shamefully  ignorant.  They  pose  as  the  ed- 
ucators of  the  people;  but  really  keep  them  in  ig- 
norance, and  teach  men  to  abhor  work  and  contract 
habits  of  indolence. 

The  expense  in  the  matter  of  beautifying  their 
temples  is  never  considered  with  the  Buddhists. 
The  description  of  one  of  many  we  give:  "The 
vane  is  about  three  by  one  and  a  half  feet  broad, 
and  thickly  crusted  with  precious  stones  and  fans  of 
red  Burmese  gold.  One  ruby  alone  is  worth  $3,000, 
and  there  are  several  hundred  rubies  on  it.  On  the 
tips  of  the  iron  rod  on  which  works  the  vane  is  a 
richly  carved  and  perforated  gold  ornament.  It  is 
a  foot  in  height,  tipped  by  an  enormous  diamond, 
encircled  by  many  smaller  ones.  All  over  this  ex- 
quisite object  are  similar  clumps  of  diamonds,  no 
other  stones  being  used  for  that  part." 

In  Burmah,  women  occupy  a  more  independent 
position  than  is  usual  in  heathen  lands.  They  man- 
age their  household,  go  about  freely,  and  even  en- 
gage in  trade  and  accumulate  property.  It  is  not 
considered  necessary  that  women  should  know  any- 
thing hut  their  housework,  so  they  are  not  given  the 
education  that  men  are;  yet  they  are  said  to  be 
about  as  intelligent  as  the  men. 


122  Mission  Fields. 

Among  young  girls,  the  boring  of  the  ears  Tor 
ear-rings  is  quite  an  important  ceremony.  A  sooth- 
sayer fixes  upon  a  fortunate  day,  and  at  the  ap- 
pointed time  a  feast  is  prepared.  The  profession!! i 
ear-borer  is  promptly  on  hand,  with  his  gold  and 
silver  needles;  and  amid  the  shrieks  of  the  young 
lady  victims  and  the  shouting  of  the  older  women, 
who  hold  them  down,  the  holes  are  made,  and  pieces 
of  string  are  inserted.  This  is  but  the  first  stage  of 
the  process.  Day  by  day  the  piece  of  string  is 
pulled,  and  drawn  backward  and  forward,  until  the 
sides  are  healed;  and  then  the  process  of  widening 
the  hole  is  commenced.  This  is  done  by  means  of 
plugs.  Then  the  na-doung  are  inserted,  which  are 
tubes  or  cylinders  of  colored  glass,  or  precious  stones 
and  metal.  A  Burmese  girl  is  not  considered  mar- 
riageable until  her  ears  are  bored. 

When  a  young  man  wishes  a  girl  for  his  wife, 
he  goes  to  her  house,  and  makes  known  his  wishes 
to  her  parents.  If  he  is  accepted,  the  girl  is  called, 
and  makes  an  examination  of  the  youth's  back,  to 
see  if  he  has  been  tattooed  according  to  custom.  If 
not,  she  will  not  marry  him. 

If  they  marry,  the  marriage- feast  lasts  three 
days;  after  which  the  newly  married  pair  remain 
with  the  bride's  parents  a  few  days,  while  the  people 
of  the  village  are  building  a  house  for  the  young 
couple.  As  soon  as  this  is  done,  they  get  a  rice-pot, 
and  set  up  for  themselves. 

In  the  worship  of  her   religion,  woman   in   Bur- 


BURMAH.  123 

niah,  as  elsewhere,  is  most  zealous.  Old  women 
may  be  seen  tottering  up  to  the  pagodas,  and,  un- 
rolling old,  soiled  handkerchiefs,  depositing  upon  the 
id<ls  a  precious  stone  or  some  gold,  perhaps  the  sav- 
ings of  years. 

A  fond  mother  will  fasten  her  babe  upon  her 
back,  and  toil  on  foot  over  mountains  and  valleys, 
fording  streams,  pillowed  by  night  on  the  ground 
and  canopied  by  the  sky,  in  the  hope  that  sometime 
during  his  life  her  child  may  make  the  requisite 
number  of  pilgrimages  to  the  pagoda,  and  that  this 
may  be  counted  as  one  of  them;  though  she  fail, 
she  trusts  that  he  may  attain  the  desired  haven.  If 
she  herself  has  led  a  meritorious  life,  she  may  hope 
to  exist  as  a  man  in  the  other  world. 

The  entire  history  of  mission-work  in  Burmah 
constitutes  one  of  the  most  thrilling  romances  of 
modern  times. 

Men  who  were  once  ignorant  and  debased  sav- 
ages have  been  transformed  into  earnest,  God-fearing 
husbands  and  fathers,  whose  brave,  active  lives  of 
self-sacrifice  are  constantly  bringing  in  harvests  of 
souls.  Their  wives  are  leading  sweet,  Christian 
lives,  and  their  daughters  are  being  educated  in  al' 
that  develops  and  crowns  a  true  womanhood.  About 
thirty  years  ago,  at  Mandalay,  when  King  Theebaw 
was  inaugurated,  seven  hundred  people  were  mas- 
sacred to  celebrate  the   event.     Recently,  a  Baptist 


124  Mission  Fields. 

church  was  dedicated  in  the  same  city,  and  $4,000 
of  the  church-debt  was  paid  for  by  Burmese 
converts. 

One-third  of  the  Karens  are  now  said  to  be 
Christians.  They  tithe  the  produce  of  their  land 
for  the  support  of  their  pastors,  and  also  send  mis- 
sionaries to  Siain.  A  marked  characteristic  of  their 
piety  is  their  enthusiasm  in  foreign  mission-work. 
They  have  their  foreign  missionary  society,  and  send 
out  their  young  men  north  and  east  to  distant 
countries,  supporting  them  there,  and  re-enforcing 
them  as  the  need  arises.  These  have  established 
Churches  among  those  tribes,  and  have  done  a  grand 
evangelistic  work,  independent  of  other  missionaries, 
in  the  face  of  persecution  aud  long  separation  from 
homes,  and  from  privileges  of  Christian  intercourse 
with  those  they  love.  "When  I  was  in  charge  of 
a  mission  station,"  says  a  missionary,  "an  old  Karen 
pastor  came  oue  day  with  a  large  contribution  for 
the  foreign  missionary  work.  I  said  to  him:  'How 
can  your  people  give  so  much?  I  know  they  are 
very  poor,  the  overflow  of  the  river  has  swept  away 
your  crops,  your  cattle  are  dying  of  disease — it  is 
the  famine  time  with  you !'  '  O,'  he  replied,  with 
such  a  contented  smile,  'it  only  means  rice  without 
curry !'  They  could  live  on  rice  and  salt,  but  they 
would  not  live  without  giving  the  Bread  of  Life  to 
their  brethren." 

One  evangelist  alone,  near  Rangoon,  supported 
at  a   cost  of  only  sixty  dollars  a  year,  has  scores  of 


BURMAH.  125 

converts  yearly.  Some  one  asks  if  that  is  not  a 
paying  investment? 

Among  the  first  converts  was  a  man  who  helped 
to  translate  the  Bible  into  the  Karen  tongue,  and 
for  fifteen  years  guided  the  missionaries  through  the 
jungles,  and  then  himself  began  to  preach  and  to 
plant  new  Churches.  In  one  year  he  had  formed 
nine,  with  over  700  converts;  in  less  than  three 
years  the  nine  had  grown  to  thirty,  with  2,000  con- 
verts. He  did  his  work  without  salary,  and  when 
offered  positions  with  large  compensations  he  at 
once  declined.  This  one  man,  whom  no  bait  of 
money  or  position  or  personal  ease  could  win  to 
leave  his  holy  and  unselfish  work,  is  an  unanswerable 
proof  that  a  higher  power  than  man  works  in 
Christianity. 

Christianity  continues  to  spread,  and  the  Chris- 
tian communities  are  distinctly  more  industrious  and 
better  educated  than  other  Bnrman  villages  around 
them.  The  Government  Report  says:  "The  Karen 
race  and  the  British  Government  owe  a  great  debt 
to  the  American  missionaries,  who  have  wrought 
this  change  in  Burmah." 

■»  •••  «• 

RESPONSIVE   EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  can  be  told  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Burmah? 

Ansiver.  It  is  thought  that  there   is  no  country 


126  Mission  Fields. 

in  the  world  whose  people  are  more  varied  in  race, 
language,  and  customs  than  Burraah. 

Q.  How  long  has  Buddhism  prevailed  in 
Burmah? 

A.   For  more  than  five  centuries  before  Christ. 

Q.  What  are  some  of  the  changes  made  since 
Christianity  was  introduced? 

A.  Besides  Churches,  excellent  schools  and  col- 
leges, for  both  boys  and  girls,  have  been  established. 
The  exports  of  the  country  yield  millions  of  dollars 
more;  and  the  country  now  imports  annually  about 
$35,000,000  worth  of  various  goods,  which  are  said 
to  consist  largely  of  luxuries,  rather  than  neces- 
sities. 

Q.  What  is  said  in  "Miracles  of  Missions"  about 
Burmah? 

A.  Burmah  has  not  only  taken  her  stand  among 
the  givers,  but  a  few  years  ago  ranked  third  in  the 
list  of  donors  to  the  Baptist  Missionary  Union — only 
Massachusetts  and  New  York  outranking  her! 
Fifty  years  ago  in  idolatry,  now  an  evangelizing 
power!  Their  liberality  puts  to  shame  the  so-called 
benevolence  of  our  Christians  at  home. 

Q.  What  was  one  of  many  cruel  experiences 
that  came  to  Dr.  Judson,  the  first  missionary  to 
Burmah? 

A.  He  was  cast  into  prison,  and  part  of  the 
time  was  during  the  hottest  season  of  the  year.  He 
was  shut  up,  with  some  hundred  Burmese  robbers, 
in    a   cell    that   had  no    window,  and    they   were  so 


BURMAH.  127 

jammed  together  that  he  could  not  find  room  to 
stretch  himself.  It  was  a  rare  luxury  when  he  ob- 
tained the  reversion  of  a  lion's  cage,  after  the  poor 
animal  had  been  starved  to  death.  The  head-jailer, 
himself  a  branded  murderer,  was  an  incarnation  of 
cruelty.  After  a  time,  Mrs.  Judson  contrived, 
partly  by  presents  and  partly  by  appeals,  to  have 
the  rigor  of  his  bondage  somewhat  relaxed;  and 
she  kept  up  secret  communications  with  him  by 
writing  on  flat  cakes,  which  were  concealed  in  bowls 
of  rice,  and  by  stuffing  scraps  of  paper  into  the 
mouth  of  an  old  coffee-pot.  Mrs.  Judson  had  man- 
aged to  secrete  the  manuscript  of  his  translations  of 
the  Bible  in  the  earth  beneath  the  mission-house; 
but  the  rainy  season  came  on,  and  they  were  likely 
to  be  ruined  with  the  dampness.  In  his  dungeon 
he  was  anxious  about  them,  and  he  arranged  with 
her  to  sew  them  up  in  a  pillow,  so  mean  in  its  ap- 
pearance, and  so  comfortless  withal,  that  the  covet- 
ousness  of  even  a  Burman  jailer  should  not  be 
excited  by  it.  When  he  was  sent  to  another  prison- 
house,  at  Oung-pen-la,  which  he  reached  with  bleeding 
feet,  the  ruffian  jailers  seized  for  themselves  the  mat 
which  covered  the  precious  pillow,  and  threw  the 
apparently  useless  article  away.  Moung  Ing  found 
the  relic,  and  carried  it  to  the  mission-house,  and 
so  Burmah  afterwards  obtained  the  Bible  In  her 
native  tonirue. 


1^8  Mission  Fields. 


SIAM  AND  LAOS. 

In  Siara,  with  its  ten  million  inhabitants,  there 
are  only  about  a  score  of  missionaries  working 
among  the  native  Siamese  and  Laos  people,  every 
minister  -having  an  average  parish  of  a  million 
souls.  There  are  cities  with  a  population  of  two 
hundred  thousand  which  have  not  even  a  Bible- 
reader  or  native  teacher. 

No  mission-field  stands  in  greater  need  of 
workers  than  Siam.  Life  in  that  laud  is  not  an 
exile,  nor  a  dreary,  lonely  burying  of  one's  self 
away  from  the  rest  of  the  world.  In  all  the  wide 
kingdom  of  Siam,  with  her  open  ports,  her  doors 
ajar — inviting  missionary  effort  from  all  Christian 
lands — and  her  ten  millions  of  Buddhist  heathen, 
there  is  but  a  handful  of  workers  who  can  teach  and 
preach  in  the  native  tongue.  Think  of  it!  And 
America  is  full  of  Christian  men  and  women  who 
profess  to  have  given  themselves  to  God,  and  to 
have  consecrated  all  they  have  to  his  service ! 

— M.  L.  Cort. 

Old  women  in  Siam,  whose  religion  has  done 
nothing  for  their  welfare  in  this  life,  and  which 
promises  absolutely  nothing  for  them   as   women   in 


Siam  and  Laos.  129 

the  future,  are  still  the  most  zealous  adherents  of 
Buddhism  in  the  land.  If  the  women  of  Siam 
would  to-day  cease  to  believe  in  and  practice  Bud- 
dhism, it  would  soon  drop  from  its  already  tottering 
throne,  and  woman  could  at  once  assume  and  main- 
tain a  higher  and  nobler  position. 


Siam  is  as  large  as  New  England  and  all  the  Mid- 
dle States;  it  is  larger  than  Japan;  and  its  popula- 
tion equals  that  of  Persia  or  Burmah,  Sweden  or 
Belgium.  In  area  it  is  four  times  as  large  as  the 
State  of  New  York.  Few  lands  are  more  open  to 
the  gospel.  Her  millions  are  all  accessible  to  the 
Christian  missionary,  whose  right  to  travel  and 
build  school-houses  and  churches  anywhere  is  not 
disputed. 

As  a  people  the  Siamese  are  pleasant,  good-na- 
tured, hospitable,  kind  to  their  children,  but  indo- 
lent to  the  utmost  degree,  and  deceitful.  Their 
greatest  vices  are  lying,  gambling,  immorality,  and 
intemperance.  Some  of  the  young  men  and  women 
are  quite  handsome,  and  the  little  children  beautiful 
in  features  as  a  rule.  The  Siamese  and  their  near 
kinsmen,  the  Laos,  make  up  three-fourths  of  the 
whole  population;  the  other  fourth  is  composed  of 
Chinese  and  other  nationalities.  The  Chinese,  in 
many  cases,  marry  Siamese  women,  and  the  children 
of  such  unions  make  one  of  the  most  promising  ele- 
ments in  the  population,  combining  the  superior 
9 


130  Mission  Fields. 

energy  of  the  Chinese  with  the  vivacity  and  quick- 
ness of  the  Siamese. 

The  prevailing  religion  and  the  education  of  a 
country  usually  stand  side  by  side,  and  aid  each 
other.  Their  united  influence  is  sometimes  to  spread 
sunshine  and  prosperity  over  the  land,  and  some- 
times to  fasten  the  chains  of  superstition  and  blight 
the  moral  feelings  of  the  entire  nation.  Siam  is  no 
exception  to  the  general  rule.  For  centuries  the 
Buddhist  temples  have  been  the  only  temples  of 
learning,  and  the  country  abounds  in  priests.  It 
would  seem  as  if  Siam  ought  to  be  a  highly  edu- 
cated country,  when  these  mendicant  teachers  form 
one-thirtieth  part  of  the  entire  population,  and 
when  the  custom  of  the  country  is  such  that  parents 
usually  require  their  sons  to  spend  all  the  years  of 
boyhood  and  youth  under  the  care  of  these  teachers 

in  the  temples. 

*  •••  K 

In  their  social  customs  the  Siamese  present  sev- 
eral points  of  interest  to  the  student  of  mission?. 
The  rich  Siamese  have  many  of  the  comforts  and 
luxuries  of  life.  They  have  numerous  slaves  and 
attendants.  But  polygamy  fills  the  houses  with  im- 
morality, bitter  jealousies,  and  strife,  and  thus  there 
are  no  homes. 

The  nobles  have  erected  many  handsome  houses, 
which  are  planned  by  European  architects,  and 
some  are  furnished  with  English,  French,  and  Chi- 
nese furniture. 


Siam  and  Laos.  131 

The  middle  class  dwell  in  houses  built  of  wood, 
usually  unpainted  teak,  and  roofed  with  earthen 
tiles.  They  are  small,  and  in  them  the  people  hud- 
dle together,  from  the  parents  to  the  children  of  the 
third  and  fourth  generation.  They  have  very  little 
furniture.  On  visiting  them  first  you  might  think 
they  had  just  moved  in,  and  that  the  furniture 
would  come  along  presently;  but  if  you  called  ten 
years  later  you  would  find  it  had  not  yet  arrived. 
The  lower  class  live  in  huts,  made  of  bamboo  and 
thatched  with  leaves.  Nearly  all  dwellings  are 
built  on  posts  or  pillars,  which  elevate  them  a  few 
feet  from  the  ground;  and  are  reached  by  ladders, 
which  at  night  are  often  drawn  up  to  prevent  dogs 
or  thieves  from  coming  in  the  house. 

All  ordinary  houses  must  have  three  rooms;  in- 
deed, so  important  is  this  considered  to  the  comfort 
of  the  family  that  the  suitor  must  often  promise  to 
provide  three  rooms,  ere  the  parents  will  let  him 
claim  his  bride. 

There  is  the  common  bedroom;  an  outer  room, 
where  they  sit  during  the  day  and  receive  their 
visitors;  and  the  kitchen.  Thus  it  will  be  seen 
that  house-life  among  the  Siamese  is  very  simple  and 
primitive. 

As  for  wearing  apparel,  they  scarcely  have  on 
any;  and,  as  a  nation,  do  not  know  what  shame  is. 
As  the  climate  is  mild  and  pleasant,  and  the  ma- 
jority of  the  people  poor  and  careless,  their  usual 
dress   consists   of  a   waist-cloth.      When    foreigners 


132  Mission  Fields. 

first  arrive  they  are  shocked  almost   beyond  endur- 
ance at  the  nudity  of  the  people. 

They  are  great  bathers,  and  several  times  daily 
they  may  be  seen  splashing  in  the  rivers  or  canals. 
There  is  no  privacy — eyes  are  everywhere;  and 
they  think  no  more  of  bathing  themselves  and  their 
children  in  the  open  street  than  of  buying  a  bunch 
of  lettuce  from  the  market-woman. 

The  parents  have  a  great  love  for  their  children ; 
but  the  latter  are  allowed  to  do  just  as  they  please 
until  the  parents  become  angry,  and  then  are  pun- 
ished. The  hand  of  a  little  one  is  sometimes  bent 
back  until  the  child  writhes  in  agony.  Reverence 
for  parents  and  for  the  aged  and  for  those  in  au- 
thority is  most  universally  taught  over  the  kingdom. 

— Siam  and  Laos: 
Presbyterian  Board  of  Publication. 

•*!•  -r  -te 

Women  in  Siam  enjoy  greater  liberty  than  in 
almost  any  other  Oriental  laud.  You  meet  them 
everywhere;  and,  in  the  bazaars  and  markets,  nearly 
all  the  buying  and  selling  is  done  by  them.  As 
servants  and  slaves  they  are  seen  performing  all 
sorts  of  labor  in  the  open  streets,  for  they  are  deemed 
inferior  to  men.  While  there  have  always  been 
schools  for  boys,  there  have  been  no  native  schools 
for  girls.  The  daughters  are  not  supposed  to  need 
any  education,  and  are  trained  from  childhood  to 
help  their  mothers  with  all  kinds  of  work.     Thus  it 


Si  am  and  Laos.  133 

comes  to  pass  that  the  girls  grow  to  be  the  "hewers 
of  wood  and  drawers  of  water."  If  you  ask  a 
woman  how  she  makes  her  living,  she  usually  has 
some  answer  ready ;  you  very  seldom  find  one  who 
has  nothing  to  do.  But  if  you  ask  a  man  the  same 
question,  he  will  often  look  at  you  in  blank  amaze- 
ment; tell  you  he  lives  with  his  father  or  mother 
or  wife;  and  then  try  to  recall  the  last  time  he  did 
auy thing,  and  give  that  as  his  work. 

Although  the  Siamese  do  not  kill  their  daugh- 
ters, still  the  sons  are  a  privileged  class.  The  mere 
fact  of  being  a  boy  is  a  peculiar  mark  of  merit. 
The  country  girls  have  a  particularly  hard  life. 
While  their  brothers  or  husbands  may  be  idling  in 
the  temples,  or  off  gambling  or  sleeping,  they  are 
plowing  and  planting  in  the  fields. 

A  fondness  for  jewelry  seems  to  be  a  passion 
with  the  young  girls,  and  they  will  deny  themselves 
needed  food  and  clothes  to  buy  a  gold  ring  or  chain 
for  their  dusky  bodies.  Many  a  girl  refuses  to  wear 
a  jacket  because  it  would  cover  up  her  chains, 
which  are  worn  as  a  hunter  carries  his  game-bag — 
over  one  shoulder  and  under  the  arm.  All  the 
people  are  fond  of  jewelry,  which  many  times  is  the 
only  adornment  that  the  body  can  boast. 

Many  Siamese  men  have  several  wives  at  a  time, 
but  they  do  not  marry  all  in  the  same  way.  They 
pay  a  sum  of  money  for  each ;  but  often  all  cere- 
mony is  laid  aside  after  the  first  marriage,  save  pay- 
iuo-  the  money.     They  build  a  little  house  for  each. 


134  Mission  Fields. 

or  assign  her  a  small  suite  of  rooms  in  the  mansion, 
if  men  of  wealth  and  position.  Polygamy  is  not  as 
common  among  the  lower  classes,  because  of  inability 
to  support  more  than  one  wife  at  a  time;  but  a  wife 
can  be  put  away  or  left  at  will. 

Motherhood  is  considered  honorable,  and  infant- 
icide is  rare. 

Many  old  women  are  reduced  to  abject  slavery, 
and  they  have  to  serve  their  masters  to  the  utmost 
of  their  strength  by  working  in  the  field  or  going 
out  to  beg. 

Notwithstanding  her  degradation  and  the  scorn 
she  has  to  bear,  the  woman  exerts  a  mighty  influ- 
ence. It  is  true  that  "woman  keeps  the  idol  on 
its  pedestal,"  and  it  is  the  mother  who  trains  her 
children  to  idolatry.  Therefore  the  real  conversion 
of  one  heathen  woman,  says  one,  "will  do  more  to- 
wards the  advancement  of  Christianity  than  that  of 
ten  men;"  and  yet  it  is  more  difficult  to  win  the 
women  to  accept  the  truth  than  the  men,  not  be- 
cause they  are  less  religious,  but  more  so,  and  are 
more  wedded  to  Buddhism. 

— M.  L.  Cort,  Siam  and  Laos. 

The  extent  of  territory  covered  by  the  Laos 
provinces  is  supposed  to  be  one-half  as  great  as 
Siam,  and  the  population  as  dense.  If  so,  it  is  a 
country  almost  as  large  as  Italy,  and  containing 
from   four  to   five  millions  of  people.     It  is  an  in- 


Si  AM  AND   IyAOS.  135 

land  country,  and  only  reached  from  the  south  by 
small  boats  or  elephants.  Although  hound  in  a 
common  interest  to  Siam,  they  have  a  certain  inde- 
pendence of  each  other  even  yet. 

The  Laosians  are  a  kind,  affectionate  people, 
caring  much  for  their  family  life,  and  morally  su- 
perior to  the  races  around  them.  They  are  a  finer, 
hardier-looking  race  than  the  average  Siamese,  and 
possess  many  qualities  of  attractiveness,' yet  have 
some  semi-barbarous  customs.  They  are  Buddhists 
and  devil- worshipers,  and  are  full  of  superstitious 
fears.  They  believe  that  nearly  all  illness  is  pro- 
duced by  witchery,  and  their  treatment  of  the  sup- 
posed witches  is  most  cruel  and  inhuman.  They 
banish  them  from  their  families,  from  their  towns, 
and  burn  down  their  houses,  and  hundreds  yearly 
are  banished  in  that  manner;  or,  many  times,  their 
bodies  are  tortured  to  a  sickening  extent.  ''We 
have  attempted  to  aid  individual  victims,"  says  one 
missionary,  "by  making  our  premises  places  of 
refuge,  and  enablL.g  those  who  had  been  driven 
from  home  to  find  work  and  protection ;  but  we  are 
helpless  before  this  wide-spread  and  degrading  pros- 
titution of  the  human  intellect." 

When  a  person  dies,  a  precious  stone  or  coin  is 
sometimes  placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  corpse  to  pay 
the  spirit  fine  into  the  next  world. 

Life  in  Laos  is  exceedingly  monotonous.  There 
are  no  fine  houses  or  palaces  for  the  most  part,  and 
princes  and  peasants  build  much  on  the  same  plan. 


136  Mission  Fields. 

The  women  do  much  of  the  hard  work  in  the  field, 
as  well  as  in  the  household.  Rich  and  poor  women 
alike  spend  much  time  in  making  garments  for  the 
priests.  Many  are  skilled  in  embroidery.  The  dress 
of  the  Laosian  women  is  very  unlike  that  of  the 
Siamese;  it  is  more  complete  and  modest.  Unmar- 
ried women  wear  a  flower  in  the  hair,  and  the  ask- 
ing for  this  flower  by  a  young  man  is  equivalent  to 
offering  his  heart  and  hand. 

The  habits  of  social  and  domestic  life  present 
some  striking  contrasts  to  those  of  most  heathen 
natives.  Women  are  kindly  treated,  and  the  baby 
daughter  is  cared  for  as  tenderly  as  the  little  son ; 
child-marriage  is  unknown,  and  old  age  is  respected. 
Marriage  »is  not  as  much  a  matter  of  trade  as  it 
usually  is  among  heathen  people. 

The  great  need  of  Laos  is  a  better  outlet  for 
trade.  At  present  those  little  kingdoms  are  prac- 
tically shut  in  from  the  outside  nations.  Missionaries 
laboring  there  are  more  isolated  from  the  rest  of  the 
world  than  at  most  stations. 

*  -f  ft 

j  RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  is  the  government  of  Siarn? 
Answer.  It  is  an  absolute  monarchy. 
Q.   What  is  the  religion? 

A.  Buddhism.  One-third  of  the  population  of 
the  whole  earth  are  Buddhists.      Buddhism    teaches 


Si  am  and  Laos.  137 

that  the  world  and  all  things  in  it  came  into  being 
without  a  creator;  that  the  soul  at  death  passes 
into  the  body  of  some  human  being,  or  some  ani- 
mal; that  it  may  be  thus  born  thousands  of  times; 
that  the  thing  most  to  be  desired  is,  to  make  so 
much  merit  that  the  soul  will  at  last  go  where 
Buddha  has  himself  gone,  into  "Nepon,"  which  is 
a  kind  of  eternal  sleep  or  annihilation. 

Q.  Are  there  many  idols  in  the  country? 

A.  The  land  is  full  of  them.  They  are  every- 
where— in  the  homes,  in  the  temples,  on  the  hill- 
tops, and  in  the  caves. 

Q.  Do  the  Siamese  practice  polygamy? 

A.  Among  the  higher  classes  polygamy  is  uni- 
versal.    The  late  king  had  120  wives. 

Q.  What  of  some  of  the  characteristics  of  the 
Laos? 

A.  They  resemble  very  much  the  Siamese  in 
customs  and  religion,  but  are  more  industrious  and 
less  deceitful. 

Q.  What  are  some  of  the  changes  in  Siam? 

A.  "We  can  not  tell  when  Siam's  rivers  first 
ran  to  the  sea,  nor  for  how  many  centuries  the 
stream  of  humanity,  which  had  its  rise  in  the  North, 
has  been  flowing  through  the  kingdom ;  but  we  do 
know  that  only  a  few  years  ago  was  the  gospel  in- 
troduced, and  a  little  stream  of  the  gospel  floods, 
which  are  yet  destined  to  cover  the  whole  earth, 
began  to  trickle  into  the  hearts  and  lives  of  these 
poor  benighted  ones,  bringing  light  and  refreshment 


138  Mission  Fields. 

with  every  drop  of  its  life-giving  waters.  Not  one- 
half  century  ago,  Siam  was  sealed  against  the  en- 
trance of  all  foreigners;  but  now,  next  to  Japan, 
she  is  perhaps  the  foremost  heathen  nation  in  the 
march  towards  Western  civilization.  To-day  she  is 
in  treaty  relation  with  all  Christian  countries;  and 
the  present  king  has  been  classed  among  the  most 
humane  and  liberal  of  heathen  monarchs,  dojng 
much  for  the  improvement  of  his  country.  Large 
mercantile  transactions  mark  the  period  of  progress; 
telegraph  and  postal  systems  are  in  full  operation; 
and  all  the  change  in  the  country  is  said  to  have 
been  effected  by  the  influence  of  Protestant  mission- 
aries, who  have  established  schools  for  girls  and 
boys,  introduced  the  printing-press,  and  have  trans- 
lated the  Bible  and  other  books  into  the  native 
language.  Some  of  the  material  results  brought 
about  by  their  work  is  shown  in  the  item  that,  in 
one  year,  $16,000  worth  of  hats  and  caps  were  im- 
ported into  the  city  of  Bangkok  alone,  for  the 
king's  courtiers."  —Mrs.  S.  R.  House. 


KOREA. 

There  are  358  cities  in  Korea,  of  from  10,000 
to  350,000  inhabitants,  only  two  of  which — Seoul 
and  Fusan — are  said  to  be  occupied  by  Protestani 
missions. 


Korea.  139 

For  Korea's  12,000,000  people  the  total  supply 
of  missionaries,  of  all  denominations,  ordained  and 
unordained,  men  and  women,  is  thirty-two  workers, 
or  one  missionary  to  375, C00  people. 

Korea  in  size  is  equal  to  Virginia  and  North 
Carolina.  "It  is  altogether  a  strange  country,  this 
Hermit  Kingdom,"  says  an  English  writer.  "The 
pale,  monotonous  colors  affected  by  the  common 
people  in  their  dress,  the  noiseless  way  in  which 
they  move  about,  the  total  lack  of  wheeled  vehicles, 
the  absence  of  street-cries,  or,  indeed,  of  shouting 
of  any  sort,  have  a  most  weird  effect;  and,  as  one 
passes  through  the  white  clad,  silent  multitude,  one 
almost  finds  himself  wondering  whether  it  is  all  real, 
and  whether  one  has  not  been  suddenly  transported 
into  dream-land." 

The  Koreans  are  more  allied  to  the  Chinese  than 
to  the  Japanese;  yet  in  language,  politics,  and  so- 
cial customs,  they  are  different  from  both.  They 
are  less  conservative  than  the  Chinese,  and  not  so 
progressive  as  the  Japanese.  They  are  generous 
and  hospitable.  As  a  race  they  are  strong  and  vig- 
orous, with  natural  talent  and  wit.  Their  educa- 
tional and  commercial  methods  are  very  primitive. 
They  attach  themselves  with  almost  child-like  confi- 
dence to  strangers  and  foreigners,  when  once  they 
begin  to  trust  them. 

Like   the   Chinese,  the   people  worship  their  aq» 


140  Mission  Fields. 

cestors;  but  there  seems  to  be  no  one  distinct  re* 
ligion. 

The  country  is  pagau — pagan  in  its  life,  its  re- 
ligion, its  morals.  One  says:  "Heathenism  in  India 
is  vile;  in  China,  defiant;  in  Japan,  desperate;  in 
Korea,  indifferent;  in  Africa,  triumphant.  No  bet- 
ter term  can  be  used  to  describe  Korea  than  'indif- 
ferent.' While  fervor  and  zeal  may  be  found  in  the 
monasteries,  the  great  mass  of  the  people  seem  skep- 
tical and  indifferent." 

The  educated  classes  are  Confucianists;  the  com- 
mon people  are  nominally  Buddhists.  Hence  it 
follows  that,  not  being  bound  down  by  a  long 
slavery  to  any  religion,  they  are  more  open  to  the 
gospel  than  other  Eastern  people.  None  among 
the  races  of  the  Asiatic  continent,  it  is  maintained, 
cau  more  easily  be  rendered  accessible  to  a  true  and 
sincere  religious  feeling  than  the  Korean. 

*  •••  -I* 

Korea  gave  religion,  letters,  and  art  to  Japan; 
and  in  one  of  their  invasions  into  Korea,  the  Jap- 
anese carried  away  many  of  the  best  workmen — 
artists,  designers,  scholars,  teachers,  astronomers,  and 
priests.  Now  Korea  seems  poor  and  uncivilized 
compared  with  Japan.  The  two  nationalities  differ 
so  much  from  each  other  as  to  have  hardly  a  single 
feature  in  common,  though  at  the  nearest  point  they 
are  only  forty  miles  apart.  In  manners  the  Ko- 
reans are   rude  among  themselves  and  rude  to  for- 


Korea.  141 

eigners.  They  are  indolent  and  dirty,  and  they 
will  not  work  if  they  can  help  it.  A  lack  of  neat- 
ness and  cleanliness  is  manifest  about  everything. 

Sleeping  apartments  are  used  for  every  purpose. 
The  bed  is  on  the  hard  floor,  and  the  head  rests  on 
blocks  of  wood.  The  principal  food,  as  in  other 
Oriental  countries,  is  rice;  mustard  and  pepper  are 
used  in  abundauce;  and  some  one  has  said:  "What 
a  Korean  lacks  in  rice  or  fish,  he  makes  up  in  cay- 
enne-pepper." Among  gentlemen  of  high  rank  it 
is  the  custom  when  one  visits  another  to  take  with 
him,  not  only  presents,  but  all  the  food  he  will  re- 
quire, and  food  for  the  family  he  visits. 

The  lumber  merchants  of  this  little  kingdom  sell 
an  interesting  red-and-black  wood,  a  kind  of  oak, 
that  will  remain  under  water  a  hundred  years  with- 
out decaying. 

The  Korean  language  has  many  proverbs  and 
pithy  sayings  in  it  that  surprise  and  entertain  one: 
Beacousfield's  "Critics  are  men  who  have  failed  in 
literature  and  art,"  has  this  Korean  echo,  "Good 
critic,  bad  worker."  "I  am  I,  another  is  another," 
is  a  formula  of  selfishness,  and  Korean  for  Ego  el 
non  ego — "I  and  not  I." 

*  •••  * 

A  correspondent  writes  thus  of  Korean  women : 
"All  their  life  is  lived  in  the  few  rooms  assigned 
them;  cooking,  sleeping,  washing  their  clothes,  with 
not  the   slightest  bit   of  mental   culture,  make  up 


1-42  Mission  Fields. 

thou  daily  routine.  There  is  little  beauty  among 
tlieni ;  their  faces  are  pallid,  and  sadness  and  weari- 
ness mark  their  countenances.  The  apartments 
among  the  higher  classes  resemble,  in  most  respects, 
the  zenanas  of  India.  A  Korean  woman  is  an  in- 
strument of  pleasure  or  of  labor,  but  never  man's 
companion  or  equal.  The  women  below  the  middle 
class  work  very  hard.  Farm  labor  is  done  chiefly 
by  them.  Women  are  not  allowed  upon  the  street 
until  after  sunset.  At  about  nine  in  the  summer, 
or  half-past  eight  in  the  winter,  the  bell  is  tolled, 
and  no  man  must  be  seen  abroad.  Then  women 
walk  out  to  take  the  air.  They  are  sometimes  seen 
in  the  day-time  walking  in  the  streets,  but  covered 
all  over  with  a  long  cloak,  with  a  hood  closely 
drawn  over  the  head  and  face,  so  that  their  features 
are  hidden  from  the  gaze  of  men;  but  only  elderly 
women  are  allowed  this  freedom.  The  very  poor 
women,  old  or  young,  can  go  with  their  faces  un- 
covered. Younger  women,  except  of  the  very  poor- 
est, are  scarcely  ever  seen  in  public.  In  the  streets 
a  man  will  step  aside  to  let  a  woman  pass  him,  and 
hold  a  fan  before  his  face  lest  he  should  catch  a 
glimpse  of  her.  Dr.  Allen  said  he  was  called  one 
day  to  see  the  king's  mother,  who  was  ill;  but  he 
only  saw  about  one  square  inch  of  the  old  lady. 
She  was  screened  by  curtains,  and  her  hand  was 
completely  bandaged  except  the  place  where  he  was 
to  feel  her  pulse." 

Infanticide  is   forbidden    by    law,   and   scarcely 


Korea.  143 

ever  practiced.  In  "Korea,  the  Hermit  Nation," 
we  read:  "In  the  higher  classes  of  society  etiquette 
demands  that  the  children  of  the  two  sexes  be  sep- 
arated after  the  age  of  eight  or  ten  years.  After 
that  time  the  boys  dwell  entirely  in  the  men's  apart- 
ments, to  study,  and  even  to  eat  and  drink.  The 
girls  remain  secluded  in  the  women's  quarters. 
These  customs,  continued  from  childhood  to  old  age, 
result  in  destroying  the  family  life.  In  the  higher 
classes,  when  a  young  woman  has  arrived  at  mar- 
riageable age,  none  of  her  relatives,  except  those 
nearest  of  kin,  are  allowed  to  see  or  speak  to  her. 
After  marriage,  women  are  inaccessible.  They  are 
nearly  always  confined  to  their  apartments,  nor  can 
they  even  look  out  into  the  streets  without  permis- 
sion of  their  lords.  So  strict  is  this  rule  that  fathers 
have,  on  occasion,  killed  their  daughters,  husbands 
their  wives,  and  wives  have  committed  suicide  when 
strangers  have  touched  them  even  with  their  fingers. 
The  common  romances  or  novels  of  the  country  ex- 
patiate on  the  merits  of  many  a  Korean  Lucretia. 

"  Marriage  is  a  thing  with  the  arrangements  for 
which  a  woman  has  little  or  nothing  to  do.  The 
father  of  the  young  man  communicates  with  the 
father  of  the  girl  whom  he  wishes  his  son  to  marry. 
This  is  often  done  without  consulting  the  tastes  or 
character  of  either.  On  the  wedding-day  the  young 
bride  must  preserve  absolute  silence.  Though  over- 
whelmed wiih  questions  ami  compliments,  silence  is 
her   duty.     She   must  sit  mute  and  impassive  as  a 


144  Mission  Fields. 

statue.  If  she  utters  a  word  or  makes  a  gestme 
she  is  the  cause  of  gossip  iu  her  husband's  house. 
The  female  servants  place  themselves  in  a  peeping 
position,  to  listen  or  look  through  the  windows,  and 
are  sure  to  publish  what  they  see. 

"It  is  not  deemed  proper  for  widows  to  remarry. 
In  the  higher  classes  a  widow  is  expected  to  weep 
for  her  deceased  husband,  and  to  wear  mourning 
all  her  life.  But  second  marriages  among  the  lowly 
are  quite  frequent.  The  men  must  have  their  food 
prepared  for  them,  and  women  can  not  and  do  not 
willingly  die  of  famine  when  a  husband  offers 
himself." 

Though  counting  for  nothing  in  society,  and 
nearly  so  in  their  families,  yet  the  women  are  sur- 
rounded by  a  certain  sort  of  respect;  and,  habitu- 
ated from  infancy  to  their  yoke,  most  women  submit 
to  their  lot  with  exemplary  resignation. 

A  little  almond-eyed  Chinese  boy  stood  swing- 
ing the  silken  cradle  of  a  beautiful  baby.  As  it 
swung  to  and  fro,  so  did  the  long  queue  of  Ah 
Fung.  But  there  was  no  music  in  his  heart  by 
which  to  time  the  steady  and  monotonous  swinging. 
It  was  a  sad  little  face  that  looked  wistfully  ahead; 
and  the  child's  thoughts  were  far  away  in  Ningpo 
with  his  father,  from  whom  he  had  been  cruelly 
stolen  and  sold  as  a  slave.  Homesick  tears  were  in 
his  eyes,  and   his   wide,  loose  jacket-sleeve  was  now 


Korea.  145 

a  ml  then  drawn  across  his  wet.  che^k ;  far  boy-nature 

is  the  same  there  as  here. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  you,  Ah  Fung? 
Don't  you  see  my  beautiful  baby?  I  was  unhappy, 
too;  but  now" — and  the  sweet  young  mother,  into 
whose  face  a  new  light  had  lately  shone  and  ban- 
ished the  deep-seated  unhappiness  and  discontent, 
bent  over  and  caressed  her  treasure. 

She  was  the  unloved  wife  of  a  rich  officer,  and 
from  the  time  her  husband  had  presented  Ah  Fung 
to  her,  she  had  made  a  pet  and  companion  of  him. 
On  account  of  her  own  loneliness,  they  had  become 
sympathizing  friends. 

Ah  Fung  dried  his  tears,  and  looked  seriously  at 
the  baby  and  mother. 

"Shall  I  tell  you  about  my  Jesus?"  he  asked. 

"O  no,  Ah  Fung!  Tell  Ah  Fung  mamma 
does  not  need  Jesus  now — she  has  her  baby,"  cooed 
the  poor  mother.  "He  shall  tell  her  about  his 
Jesus  by  and  by.  By  and  by,  Ah  Fung,  by  and 
by,"  she  said. 

But  by  and  by  the  delicate  blossom  began  to 
fade  and  droop.  Paler  and  thinner  the  little  face 
became,  till  by  and  by  the  mother,  in  the  extremity 
of  her  grief,  saw  the  only  thing  she  had  to  love 
pass  into  the  dark,  mysterious  eternity. 

Ah  Fung  was  the  child  of  a  converted  Chinese. 

His  father  had  come  over  to  Seoul,  Korea,  to  trade, 

and  brought  the  little  boy  with  him;   but  in  a  crowd 

the  child  was  separated  from  him,  stolen,  and  sold. 

10 


146  Mission  Fields. 

He  was  old  enough  to  commit  his  way  to  the  Lord, 
and  know  that  it  was  all  right  somehow. 

And  now  he  saw,  as  Naaman's  little  maid  did,  that 
he  had  come  there  for  a  purpose ;  and  he  forgot  his 
own  great  grief  in  his  desire  to  minister  true  com- 
fort to  the  mother. 

He  was  awed  and  silenced  by  her  sorrow;  but 
one  day  she  remembered  how  often  he  had.  tried  to 
tell  her  of  "Jesus  and  his  love." 

"Ah  Fung,"  she  said,  "tell  me  about  your 
Jesus." 

And  Ah  Fung,  with  the  true  tact  of  a  child, 
began  where  he  knew  it  would  mean  the  most  to 
her,  and  told  her  of  Jesus'  love  to  children,  and 
the  beautiful  home  where  he  took  them  to  keep 
and  make  happy  till  the  parents  should  come. 

Day  after  day  he  talked  about  it  till  the  mother's 
yearning  heart  made  her  lips  frame  the  question: 

"Did  He  love  my  baby?  Are  you  sure  she  is 
with  him?" 

"I  am  sure  he  did  love  her  and  that  she  is  with 
him,"  replied  Ah  Fung.  "Our  missionary  said  he 
has  many,  many  little  children  there,  and  he  makes 
them  very  happy.  He  will  give  her  back  to  you  if 
you  go  there." 

"But  where  is  it?  How  can  I  get  there?"  ea- 
gerly asked  the  tearful  mother." 

"I  do  n't  quite  know,"  said  Ah  Fung;  "but  if 
we  love  him  and  trust  it  to  him,  he  will  take  us 
somehow.      He   said   so.     Won't   you   let  Jesus  be 


Korea.  147 

your  Savior,  too?"  asked  Ah  Fung.  "And  then 
we  '11  both  go  there,  and  he  will  give  our  darling 
back  to  us." 

"A  little  child  shall  lead  them."  Ah  Fung's 
preaching  was  not  in  vain.  This  mother  was  the 
first  convert  to  Christianity  in  Korea,  which  was  so 
long  shut  up  to  foreign  nations.  It  is  now  open  to 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 

Many  efforts  have  been  made  to  carry  the  truth 
into  Korea;  but  Ah  Fung,  the  little  captive,  has 
the  honor  of  having  sowed  the  first  fruit-bearing 
seed.  — Word,  Work,  and  World. 

RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  is  Korea  often  called? 

Amwer.  The  "  Hermit  Kingdom,"  because  it  was 
so  long  shut  away  from  other  nations.  It  was  un- 
known even  by  name  in  Europe  until  the  sixteenth 
century.  There  are  records  of  its  history  extending 
back  for  four  thousand  years,  but  its  more  reliable 
history  commences  about  A.  D.  200. 

Q.   What  is  its  size? 

A.  It  has  an  estimated  area  of  82,000  square 
miles. 

Q.  To  whom  has  Korea  been  partially  subject? 

A.  To  China,  for  over  1,800  years. 

Q.  What  is  its  government? 

A.   An  absolute  monarchy. 


148  Mission  Fields. 

Q.  What  is  the  language  of  the  people? 

A.  It  is  intermediate  between  Mougolo-Tartar 
and  Japanese;  but  the  Chinese  system  of  writing  is 
used.  The  Koreans  have  possessed  the  art  of  print- 
ing since  the  eighth  century. 

Q.   In  what  kind  of  houses  do  they  live? 

A.  They  are  small ;  generally  built  of  stones  and 
mud;  but  one  story  high,  with  a  garret  over  it 
where  they  lay  up  their  provisions. 

Q.   How  do  the  people  dress? 

A.  The  ordinary  dress  is  white,  and  that  of  the 
officials  blue.  The  women  also  wear  blue  garments, 
and  have  a  green  border  to  the  cloak,  which  is  worn 
over  the  head,  and  with  which  they  conceal  their 
faces  from  the  gaze  of  the  foreigners.  The  mourn- 
ing color  is  yellow. 

Q.   What  is  said  of  their  appearance? 

A.  They  are  tall.  In  complexion  they  are  lighter 
than  the  Japanese;  some  are  even  ruddy,  and  have 
clear  skins. 

Q.   What  is  the  character  of  the  people? 

A.  They  are  very  superstitious.  They  believe 
the  air  is  filled  with  malignant  spirits,  who  must  be 
propitiated  by  prayer,  gifts,  or  penance. 

Q.  What  five  things  are  taught  the  children? 

A.  To  obey  their  lather,  respect  their  elder 
brothers,  be  loyal  to  the  king,  respectful  to  the  wife, 
and  true  to  their  friends. 

Q.  How  long  since  Korea  was  open  to  Christian 
nations? 


Japan.  149 

A.  As  late  as  1882  mission-work  was  prohibited. 
To-day  Korea  presents  a  striking  illustration  of  the 
irresistible  advance  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ,  and 
presents  another  miracle  in  modern  missions.  The 
king  is  liberal  in  his  views,  and  seeks  the  true  in- 
terests of  his  country.  He  favors  education,  and  is 
willing  to  let  missionaries  teach  girls;  and  is  en- 
thusiastic over  medical  missionaries  and  their  skill — 
a  Christian  medical  lady  now  being  physician  to 
the  queen. 


JAPAN. 

Japan  has  a  population  of  about  40,000,000 
people.  About  40,000  of  that  number  are  Prot- 
estant Christians;  or,  one  Christian  to  every  thou- 
sand inhabitants. 

*  •••  ¥? 

Japan  has  some  263,207  temples  for  the  worship 
of  false  gods,  and  70,755  priests.  For  every  two 
Christians  there  are  five  Buddhist  temples,  not  to 
mention  Shinto  temples.  There  are  10,000  more 
head-priests  of  Buddhism  than  Protestant  Chris- 
tians; and  for  every  single  Christian,  of  every  de- 
nomination, at  least  two  Buddhist  priests.  Japan 
is  not  yet  a  Christian  country;  and  there  is  room 
and  need  for  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  of  mis- 
sionaries. 


150  Mission  Fields. 

After  the  muddy  rivers,  dreary  flats,  and  brown 
hills  of  China;  after  the  desolate  shores  of  Korea, 
with  their  unlovely  and  unwashed  people, — Japan 
is  a  dream  of  Paradise,  beautiful  from  the  first 
green  island  off  the  coast  to  the  less  picturesque 
hill-top.  The  houses  seem  toys,  their  inhabitants 
dolls,  whose  manner  of  life  is  clean,  pretty,  and 
artistic.  One  recognizes  the  Japanese  as  the  flower 
of  the  Orient — most  polite,  refined,  light-hearted, 
friendly,  and  attractive.  This  is  what  we  read  in 
"  Jinriksha  Days  in  Japan,"  by  Miss  Bacon. 

The  Japanese  have  a  written  history  which 
stretches  in  uninterrupted  tale  over  2,550  years; 
and  their  first  ruler,  of  the  still  reigning  family,  was 
contemporary  with  Nebuchadnezzar.  In  this  un- 
broken dynasty,  seven  of  its  one  hundred  and  twenty- 
three  sovereigns  have  been  women. 

Forty  and  more  millions  of  people,  in  less  than 
thirty  years,  have,  in  this  empire,  undergone  the 
greatest  possible  revolution  in  matters  of  govern- 
ment, commerce,  education,  and  social  and  religious 
systems. 

Japan,  from  a  state  of  absolute  exclusiveness  for 
ages,  has  come  to  be  the  most  progressive  of  Eastern 
nations.  Christianity  has  exerted  the  most  powerful 
influence  in  bringing  about  this  change,  and  the 
Japan  of  old  is  not  the  Japan  of  to-day.  The  em- 
pire is  growing  commercially,  intellectually,  and 
spiritually;  recent  statistics  show  surprising  results. 
Now,  every   morning,  the  streets  of   the  cities  and 


Japan.  151 

villages  are  alive  with  boys  and  girl?,  clattering 
along  with  their  books  to  the  kindergarten,  primary, 
grammar,  high,  or  normal  school.  Every  rank  in 
life,  every  grade  in  learning,  may  find  its  proper 
place  in  the  new  school-systems. 

The  reports  of  the  progress  of  Christianity  that 
have  been  given  are  not  overstated.  One  noticeable 
feature  is,  tbat  its  converts  are  numerous  among  the 
young  people,  and  comparatively  rare  among  the 
older  people.  This  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
the  old  religions  have  taken  deep  root  in  the  minds 
of  the  older  people. 

The  type  of  Christianity  now  growing  up  is  in- 
tensely missionary.  During  the  past  year  native 
converts,  with  average  wages  of  twenty-five  cents 
a  day,  gave  $27,000  for  mission-work.  The  prom- 
ise for  the  future  is  full  of  cheer;  and  yet  this  does 
not  mean  that  Japan  is  Christianized,  nor  does  it 
mean  that  she  does  not  still  need  missionaries;  for 
Japan  never  needed  the  presence  and  guidance  of 
the  Christian  missionary  more  than  now. 

Everywhere  in  Japan,  youth  is  delightful. 
The  country  is  a  realm  of  babies,  and  young  mothers 
who  delight  in  the  romping  games  of  their  children. 
The  homes  are  attractive,  and  always  clean;  in  the 
poorest  house,  one  can  sit  down  with  the  same  care- 
lesa  pleasure  as  in  the  finest.  The  cleanliness  of  the 
Japanese  is  one  of  his  most  commendable  qualities. 


152  Mission  Fields. 

It  is  apparent  in  liis  body,  in  his  house,  in  his  work* 
shop,  and  no  less  in  the  great  carefulness  and  exem- 
plary exactness  with  which  he  looks  after  his  fields. 
They  are  great  bathers.  Among  the  lowest  classes 
the  sexes  bathe  together,  but  with  a  modesty  and 
propriety  that  are  inconceivable  to  a  foreigner  until 
he  has  witnessed  it.  While  in  the  bath  they  are 
absorbed  in  their  work,  and,  though  chatting  and 
laughing,  seem  utterly  unmindful  of  each  other. 
The  sexes,  except  among  the  lower  classes,  do  not 
intermingle  in  a  friendly  way  as  we  do;  and  to  a 
Japanese,  Professor  Morse  says,  "the  sight  of  our 
dazzling  ball-rooms,  with  girls  in  decollete  dresses, 
clasped  in  the  arms  of  their  partners  and  whirling 
at  the  sound  of  exciting  music,  must  seem  the  wild- 
est debauch  imaginable." 

The  Japanese  are  a  people  of  muscle  and  of 
great  physical  endurance.  The  diet  of  the  working 
classes  is  entirely  of  vegetables  and  fish,  and  the 
amount  of  manual  labor  they  perform  is  prodigious. 
Although  there  is  poverty,  there  are  few  beggars; 
for  both  strong  and  weak  find  some  occupation. 
The  blind  men  of  the  country  follow  the  profes- 
sion of  massage,  and  become  adepts  in  giving  the 
treatment. 

Infanticide,  and  other  cruel  practices  peculiar 
to  Eastern  countries,  are  unknown.  Aged  parents 
are  never  a  burden,  but  are  treated  with  greatest 
love  and  tenderness;  and  if  times  are  hard,  and 
food    and    other   comforts   are    scarce,    the   children 


Japan. 


153 


deprive  themselves  and  their  children  to  give  to 
their  old  fathers  and  mothers.  Old  age  is  a  time  of 
peace  and  happiness  for  both  men  and  women. 


•»  •••  •«• 


No  one  who  has  seen  or  known  anything  of 
Japanese  women  can  deny  that  they  are  essentially 
womanly.  Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  in  speaking  of  them, 
said  that,  taken  altogether,  they  seemed  so  amaz- 
ingly superior  to  their  men-folk  as  almost  to  belong 
morally  and  socially  to  a  higher  race.  Gentle  and 
courteous,  sympathetic  and  womanly,  one  can  not 
fail  to  love  them.  They  leave  the  effect  on  a  trav- 
eler's mind,  says  one,  that  Japan  is  a  fairy-land  of 
grown-up  children  ;  and  it  is  only  when  one  becomes 
well  acquainted  with  the  customs  of  the  people  that 
one  realizes  that  those  bright  little  creatures,  more 
like  humming-birds  or  butterflies  than  human  beings, 
have  to  bear  any  of  the  trials  and  abuses  that  are 
the  common  lot  of  all  mankind.  To  the  casual 
observer  they  are  the  happiest  and  gayest-hearted 
people  in  the  world,  who,  though  charmingly  gentle 
and  naturally  well-bred,  give  one  the  impression 
that  they  are  almost  incapable  of  the  power  of 
thinking  or  have  character  enough  for  self-control. 
They  are  taught  self-control  from  the  very  first. 
The  duty  of  self-restraint  is  taught  to  the  little  girls 
of  the  family  from  the  tenderest  years;  it  is  their 
great  moral  lesson.  The  little  girl  must  sink  her- 
self entirely;    must  give  up  always  to  others;    must 


154  Mission  Fields. 

never  show  emotion?,  except  such  as  will  be  pleas* 
iug  to  others, — this  is  the  secret  of  true  politeness, 
and  must  be  mastered,  if  the  woman  wishes  to  be 
well  thought  of  and  to  lead  a  happy  life.  The  effect 
of  this  teaching  is  seen  in  the  attractive  but  dignified 
manners  of  the  Japanese  women. 

We  quote  further  from  "Japanese  Girls  and 
Women,"  in  which  the  author  says:  "As  she  passes 
from  babyhood  to  girlhood,  and  from  girlhood  to 
womanhood,  the  Japanese  woman  is  the  object  of 
much  love  and  care.  She  is  taught  the  manage- 
ment of  a  house;  and  is  given  instruction  in  books, 
which  is  coming  to  be  regarded  more  and  more  a 
necessity  for  the  women  as  well  as  the  men." 

Under  this  discipline  she  is,  at  eighteen,  a  pure, 
sweet,  amiable  girl,  who  has  reached  the  marriage- 
able age.  Usually  she  is  allowed  her  own  choice  in 
regard  to  whether  she  will  or  will  not  marry  a  cer- 
tain man;  but  she  is  expected  to  marry  some  one, 
and  not  to  take  too  much  time  in  making  up  her 
mind.  If  she  positively  dislikes  the  man  who  is 
submitted  to  her  for  inspection,  she  is  seldom  forced 
to  marry  him  ;  but  no  more  cordial  feeling  than 
simple  toleration  is  expected  of  her  before  marriage. 
The  quiet,  undemonstrative  love  on  the  part  of  hus- 
band and  wife,  though  very  different  from  the  rav- 
ings of  a  lover  in  the  nineteenth-century  novel,  is 
perhaps  truer  to  life. 

The  idea  of  a  wife's  duty  to  her  husband  in- 
cludes  no   thought  of  companionship   on    terms   of 


Japan.  155 

equality.  She  rarely  appears  with  him  in  public; 
and  in  all  things  the  husband  goes  first,  the  wife 
second.  If  the  husband  drops  his  fan  or  his  hand- 
kerchief, the  wife  picks  it  up  for  hira. 

Unlike  other  Asiatic  women,  she  goes  without 
restraint  alone  through  the  streets,  and  is  not  barred 
out  from  intercourse  with  the  world. 

Journeying  through  rural  Japan,  one  is  im- 
pressed by  the  important  part  played  by  women  in 
the  various  bread-winning  industries.  They  enter 
bravely  into  al!  the  work  of  the  men  ;  and  the  peas- 
ant and  his  wife  work  side  by  side  in  the  field,  eat 
together,  and  whichever  happens  to  be  the  stronger 
in  character,  governs  the  house  without  regard  to  sex. 

One  can  not  speak  of  the  conditions  of  women 
in  any  country  without  mentioning  the  children, 
and  the  most  characteristically  Japanese  of  all  Jap- 
anese sights  are  the  little  children.  Babies  are 
carried  about  tied  to  the  mother's  back,  or  to  that 
of  their  small  sisters.  They  sleep  with  their  heads 
rolling  helplessly  round,  or  watch  all  that  goes  on 
with  their  black  beads  of  eyes,  and  seldom  cry.  As 
soon  as  she  can  walk,  the  Japanese  girl  has  her  doll 
tied  on  her  back,  until  she  learns  to  carry  it  steadily 
and  carefully.  After  that,  the  baby  brother  or  sister 
succeeds  the  doll;  and  flocks  of  these  comical  little 
people,  with  lesser  people  on  their  backs,  wander 
late  at  night  in  the  streets  with  their  parents,  and 
their  funny,  double  sets  of  eyes  shine  in  every 
audience. 


156  Mission  Fields. 

The  patience  of  the  mother  is  remarkable.  She 
seems  to  govern  her  children  entirely  by  gentle  ad- 
monition; and  the  severest  chiding  that  is  given 
them  is  in  a  pleasant  voice,  and  accompanied  by  a 
smiling  face.  Nothing,  in  all  one's  study  of  Jap- 
anese life,  seems  more  beautiful  and  admirable  than 
the  influence  of  the  mother  over  her  children — an 
influence  that  is  gentle  and  all-pervading,  bringing 
out  all  that  is  sweetest  in  the  feminine  character. 
The  higher  part  of  her  nature,  however,  is  little 
developed.  No  great  religious  truths  have  lifted 
her  soul  above  the  world  into  a  higher  and  holier 
atmosphere. 

•»  •••  IR- 
RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  How  large  is  Japan? 

Answer.  The  land  area  of  the  numerous  islands 
which  comprise  the  empire  is  very  nearly  150,000 
square  miles. 

Q.  What  are  the  religions? 

A.  The  two  great  religious  are  Shintoism  and 
Buddhism.  Buddhism  was  introduced  from  Korea. 
Japan  is  a  country  of  wayside  shrines,  images,  and 
temples  without  number.  Some  of  the  great  tem- 
ples in  Kioto  are  capable  of  holding  5,000  persons, 
and  some  contain  as  many  as  3,000  life-sized  gilt 
images  of  saints  and  gods. 

Q.  What  reforms  have  been  carried  out  by  the 
mikado? 


Japan.  157 

A.  Encouragement  of  the  press,  there  being 
hundreds  of  periodicals — political,  literary,  and  sci- 
entific— dailies,  weeklies,  and  monthlies;  establish- 
ment of  a  national  post;  reform  of  marriage  laws; 
adoption  of  railways,  telegraphs,  light-houses,  steam- 
ships, arsenals,  and  dock-yards;  a  civil  service  of 
foreign  employees;  and  the  legal  observance  of  the 
Christian  Sabbath. 

Q.   Do  art  and  science  flourish? 

A.  In  science,  the  Japanese  have  cultivated 
medicine,  astronomy,  and  mathematics.  In  chem- 
istry and  botany  they  have  considerable  knowledge. 
In  the  art  of  design  they  show  great  taste.  All  the 
people  are  fond  of  reading,  and  circulating  libraries 
are  carried  on  men's  backs  from  house  to  house. 
Their  dram  is  are  largely  founded  on  national  his- 
tory and  tradition.  They  ;tre  fond  of  the  theater; 
the  actors  are  regarded  as  a  very  low  class. 

Q.    How  far  is  Japan  from  China? 

A.   Four  hundred  and  twenty  miles. 

Q.   How  far  from  California? 

A.  Five  thousand  miles. 

Q.  How  has  the  door  of  Japan  been  so  widely 
opened  to  Christian  influence? 

A.  Because  of  the  eagerness  of  the  people  to 
adopt  foreign  customs. 

Q.   What  is  the  sacred  mountain  of  the  empire? 

A.  Fusiyama;  and  every  year  hundreds  of  pil- 
grims travel,  sometimes  hundreds  of  miles  or  more, 
to  pay  homage  to  the  mountain  god. 


158  Mission  Fields. 


THE  ISLAND  WORLD. 


There  are  said  to  be  only  three  Jfrotestant 
churches  on  the  island  of  Cuba,  and  the  population 
is  estimated  at  nearly  2,000,000. 


•a-  ••■  -K- 

There  are  about  2,000,000  people  in  Madagas- 
car who  are  Christians,  or  nominally  so;  but  there 
are  also  3,000,000  living  in  darkness  and  cruelty, 
having  no  conception  of  a  god  beyond  a  fetich. 

Not  only  Java,  but  the  whole  of  Dutch  India — 
including  Java,  Sumatra,  Borneo,  and  Celebes — has 
a  strong  claim,  not  only  on  Europe,  but  on  Chris- 
tian America,  for  the  gospel.  Twenty-seven  mill- 
ions of  people,  and  only  sixty-nine  Christian  mis- 
sionaries to  tell  them  of  the  Way  and  the  Truth 
and  the  Life! 

-»  •••  tt 

Upon  the  Hawaiian  Islands,  among  the  foreign- 
ers, are  found  12,000  Portuguese,  13,600  Japanese, 
and  20,000  Chinese.  Though  Christianized  them- 
selves, the  Hawaiians  find  a  large  amount  of  mis- 
sionary work  to  do  among  these  different  peoples. 


The  Island  World.  159 

In  Ceylon  the  Protestant  Christians  of  all  Beets 

are  together  estimated  at  about  35,000,  out  of  a 
population  considerably  in  excess  of  2,760,000.  In 
a  district  about  the  size  of  Wales  there  are  180,000 
Singhalese,  besides  many  Tamils;  and  in  this  dis- 
trict there  are  about  a  dozen  schools,  and  these  are 
for  boys  only,  there  not  being  even  one  for  girls  in 
that  district. 

A  missionary  from  Ceylon  told,  a  short  time 
since,  of  a  dying  Singhalese  woman.  He  had  bap- 
tized her  as  a  recent  convert  from  Buddhism,  along 
with  his  own  daughter,  only  twelve  months  or  so 
before.  Her  last  words  were:  "How  beautiful 
God  is!"  Charles  Kingsley's  daughter  heard  her 
father  use  these  very  words  during  one  of  the  last 
nights  of  his  life.  We  see  how  there  was  that  in 
God  which  delighted  and  astonished  the  highly  cul- 
tured, gifted  Englishman,  and  his  simple,  unlettered 
Singhalese  sister.  God's  goodness  and  character 
satisfy  all  alike. 

■»  •••  K 

The  earth's  islands  have  never  been  numbered, 
nor  has  any  accurate  census  of  the  inhabitants  ever 
been  taken  ;  but  they  doubtless  hold  from  thirty  to 
forty  millions.  The  islands  of  the  Pacific  have 
stood  for  the  lowest  type  of  barbarism  and  shocking 
savagery,  for  the  unspeakable  horrors  of  cannibal- 
ism and  endless  war.  Fiji,  New  Zealand,  New 
Hebrides,   and   Raratonga    have   long    been    names 


160  Mission  Fields. 

with  which  to  conjure  up  scenes  most  loathsome. 
Infanticide  and  cannibalism  flourished  in  even  darker 
forms  than  in  other  savage  lands.  Two-thirds  of 
all  the  infants  were  killed  at  birth,  and  every  vil- 
lage had  an  executioner  appointed  to  carry  out  this 
deed  of  blood.  Dead  bodies  were  handed  over  to 
young  children  to  hack  and  hew.  No  marvel  if  we 
read  that  sick  and  aged  parents  were  put  out  of 
the  way  by  the  clubs  of  their  owu  offspring.  The 
sick  were  buried  alive;  widows  were  deliberately 
strangled  on  the  death  of  any  great  man ;  living 
victims  were  buried  beside  every  post  of  a  chief's 
new  house,  and  had  to  stand  clasping  it  while  the 
earth  was  gradually  heaped  over  their  heads;  and 
canoes  were  launched  by  making  rollers  of  living 
human  bodies.  Human  language  has  no  terms  to 
express  the  former  debasement  of  that  people. 

The  Gospel  in  all  Lands  gives  the  following  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  islands 
of  Melanesia  and  Polynesia,  who  are  yet  unreached : 
"Crimes  of  all  degrees  and  of  every  kind  are  of 
constant  occurrence.  Treachery  and  inhumanity 
are  among  the  traits  of  character.  Theft  is  not  at 
all  disreputable,  and  parents  will  teach  their  chil- 
dren to  steal.  Cruelty  and  bloodshed  excite  no 
more  horror  than  events  of  the  most  common  occur- 
rence. There  are  few  places  where  the  female  sex 
are  more  degraded." 

"If  we  did  not  beat  our  women,"  said  the  men 
of   some   islands,   "they   would    never    work — they 


The  Island  World.  161 

would  not  four  and  obey  us;  but  when  we  have  beaten 
and  killed  and  feasted  on  two  or  three,  the  rest  are 
all  very  quiet  and  good  for  a  long  time." 

Amongst  the  heathen  in  the  New  Hebrides, 
woman  is  the  downtrodden  slave  of  man.  She  is 
kept  working  hard,  and  bears  all  the  heavier  bur- 
dens; while  her  husband  walks  by  her  side,  with 
musket,  club,  or  spear,  ready  to  strike  her  if  she 
does  anything  to  offend  him. 

I  knew  of  one  chief,  says  a  missionary,  who  had 
many  wives,  who  were  always  jealous  of  each  other 
and  violently  quarreling  amongst  themselves.  When 
he  was  off  at  war,  along  with  his  men,  the  favorite 
wife — a  tall  and  powerful  woman — armed  herself 
with  an  ax,  and  murdered  all  the  others.  On  his 
return  he  made  peace  with  her,  and,  either  in  terror 
or  for  other  motives,  promised  to  forego  all  attempts 
at  revenge.  One  has  to  live  amongst  the  Papuans, 
or  the  Malays,  in  order  to  understand  how  much 
woman  is  indebted  to  Christ. 

Fourteen  islands  in  the  New  Hebrides  group  are 
still  without  missionaries.  "  One  of  the  finest  sights 
that  I  have  ever  seen,  I  saw  recently  at  Tongoa," 
writes  Mr.  Annaud;  adding,  "On  a  grassy  hillside 
were  assembled  fully  six  hundred  natives,  nearly  all 
clothed  gayly,  and  joining  most  heartily  in  singing 
sacred  songs  and  reverently  bowing  their  heads  in 
prayer.  Fifteen  years  ago  I  happened  to  be  one  of 
three  missionaries  who  were  on  Tongoa,  seeking  to 
open  that  island  for  teachers  or  a  missionary.  On 
11 


162  Mission  Fields. 

the  Sabbath  we  spoke  briefly  to  the  people  on  that 
same  hillside;  but  what  a  different  congregation! 
Then  we  addressed  a  company  of  naked,  painted 
cannibals,  that  were  almost  constantly  at  war,  kill- 
ing and  devouring  one  another.  Now,  what  a 
changed  scene!  Up  in  the  western  parts  of  the 
islands  we  missionaries  are  still  laboring,  amidst  the 
gloom  of  heathen  barbarism.  In  Malekula,  Malo, 
and  Santo  we  are  still  unable  to  point  to  our  con- 
verts; yet  the  attendance  at  our  Sabbath  service  is 
fairly  good.  So  the  truth  must  eventually  make  its 
way  through  the  thick  darkness  that  surrounds  and 
fills  their  souls." 

Australia,  nearly  as  large  as  the  United  States, 
has  a  population  of  about  2,250,000,  one-half  of 
whom  are  Christians.  Tasmania  is  a  beautiful 
country,  but  has  a  dreadful  people.  England  makes 
use  of  it  as  a  penal  colony,  and  missionary  work  is 
largely  among  these  convicts  and  their  children. 

The  results  of  mission-work  in  the  island  world 
have  never  been  surpassed  anywhere.  The  Ha- 
waiian Islands,  everywhere  recognized  now  as  a 
Christian  nation,  seventy  years  ago  were  sunk  to 
almost  as  low  a  pitch  of  degradation  as  the  Fiji 
Islands.     Their  Churches  are  nearly  self-sustaining 


The  Island  World.  163 

now,  and  are  engaged  in  sending  missionaries  from 
their  own  numbers  to  other  islands. 

The  Society  Islands  tell  the  same  tale.  The 
Samoan  Islands  repeat  the  history  and  renew  the 
wonder.  Some  34,000  cannibals  have  professed 
Christianity.  Two  hundred  native  pastors  minister 
to  Churches  whose  members  are  noted  for  liberal 
giving.  In  the  Sandwich  Islands  there  are  places 
of  almost  holy  associations.  The  missionary  Coan 
baptized,  in  one  day,  1,705  converts;  and  others 
have  had  similar  encouragements.  In  New  Zealand 
missionaries  toiled  eleven  years  for  their  first  con- 
vert, but  soon  after  could  tell  of  an  entire  nation 
being  converted;  and  now  we  read  that  ninety-five 
per  cent  of  the  whole  population  of  New  Zealand 
professes  religion.  About  1,000  islands,  embraced 
in  the  Gilbert,  Marshall,  Caroline,  and  Ladrone 
groups,  constitute  Micronesia;  and  when  the  first 
missionary  went  to  the  Carolines,  forty  years  ago, 
there  was  not  a  book  in  that  island-world.  The  people 
who  read  and  are  members  of  Churches  can  now  be 
numbered  by  hundreds. 

What  dismal  tragedy  was  enacted  for  a  genera- 
tion in  Madagascar,  after  thousands  had  chosen  the 
Way  of  Life!  To-day,  Madagascar  shines  in  the 
Light,  revealing  the  power  and  reality  of  the  Chris- 
tian transformation. 

Think  of  70,000  Fiji3  converted,  and  having  a 
thousand  churches  on  their  islands!  In  "  At  Home 
in  Fiji,"  Miss  Cummings  says:   "  You  may  now  pass 


164  Mission  Fields. 

from  isle  to  isle,  certain  everywhere  to  find  the  same 
cordial  reception  by  kindly  men  and  women.  Every 
village  on  the  eighty  inhabited  isles  has  built  for 
itself  a  church  and  a  good  house  for  its  native 
minister." 

Can  you  realize  that  there  are  900  Wesleyan 
churches  in  Fiji,  at  every  one  of  which  the  frequent 
services  are  crowded  by  devout  congregations,  and 
that  schools  flourish? 

On  the  New  Hebrides  groups  more  than  12,000 
of  the  natives  have  professed  conversion,  and  by 
their  godly  lives  and  their  self-sacrificing  gifts  have 
showed  themselves  to  be  true  disciples  of  the 
Master. 

Writing  of  the  death  of  his  first  Aniwan  con- 
vert, Mr.  Paton  says:  "My  heart  felt  like  to  break 
over  him.  There  we  stood,  the  white  missionaries 
of  the  Cross  from  far  distant  lands,  mingling  our 
tears  with  Christian  natives  of  Aneityum,  and  let- 
ting them  fall  over  one  who,  only  a  few  years  be- 
fore, was  a  blood-stained  cannibal,  and  whom  now 
we  mourned  as  a  brother,  a  saint,  an  apostle, 
amongst  his  people.  Ye  ask  an  explanation?  The 
Christ  entered  into  his  heart,  and  Namakei  became 
a  new  creature.     'Behold,  I  make  all  things  new!'" 

-» •••  * 

An  affecting  story  is  told  of  a  beggar  of  the 
South  Sea  Islands,  known  as  Buteve.  There  are 
stone   seats   occasionally  along  the  roads  which  are 


Thk  Island  Wokld.  165 

formed  by  two  smooth  stones,  one  of  which   serves 
as  a  seat  and  the   other  as  a  support  for  the  back  ; 
and   here,  in   the  cool   of  the  day,  would   be  found 
certain  persons  ready  to   chat   with   any  passer-by. 
The  missionary's  attention  was  arrested  by  seeing  a 
person   get  off  one  of  these   seats,  and   walk   upon 
iiis   knees    into   the    center   of  the  "parent   path," 
shouting:   "Welcome,  servant  of  God,  who  brought 
light  into  this  dark  island!     To  you  we  are  indebted 
for  the  Word   of  Heaven."     The   missionary  asked 
the  cripple  what  he  knew  about  heaven,  and  found 
his  answers  to  be  exceedingly  intelligent  about  Jesus 
Christ   and   his   atonement,  the  future  life,  and  the 
approach  of  the  soul  to  God  in   prayer.     "Buteve, 
where  did  you  obtain  all  this  knowledge?     I  do  not 
remember  ever  to  have  seen  you  at  the  settlements 
where  I  have  spoken,"  said    the  missionary;   "and, 
besides  this,  your   hands  and    feet  are  eaten  off  by 
disease,  and  you  have  to    walk    upon   your  knees." 
Buteve  answered:   "As  the  people  return  from  the 
service,  I  sit  by  the  wayside,  and  beg  from  them,  as 
they  pass  by,  a  bit  of  the  Word.     One  gives  me  one 
piece,  and   another  another,  and  I  gather  them  to- 
gether in  my  heart;    and  thinking  over  what  I  thus 
obtain,  and  praying  to  God   to   make  me  know,  I 
-et   to    understand."     This   poor   cripple,    who   had 
never   been  in  a  place  of  worship  himself,  had  thus 
picked   up   the   crumbs   which  fell  from  the  Lord's 
table,  and  eagerly  devoured  them. 


166  Mission  Fields. 


RESPONSIVE  EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  is  a  necessary  feature  of  missi  n- 
ary  work  in  the  island-world? 

Answer.  The  use  of  missionary-ships. 

Q.   Are  there  many  of  them  ? 

A.  Quite  a  fleet.  They  make  yearly  trips  among 
the  islands — taking  supplies  and  carrying  mission- 
aries from  island  to  island — and  carry  native  workers 
to  new  fields. 

Q.  How  do  the  results  of  missionary  work  com- 
pare with  those  elsewhere? 

A.  They  are  greater  for  the  same  labor  bestowed  ; 
for  the  reason  that  the  people  are  more  susceptible 
to  the  truth,  not  having  been  chained  down  by  false 
creeds. 

Q.  What  is  the  best  missionary  intelligence  to 
stir  enthusiasm? 

A.  The  story  of  a  true  missionary's  life  and 
labors  among  the  heathen.  Such  a  story  is  to  be 
found  in  the  life  of  John  Paton,  missionary  to  the 
New  Hebrides.  Livingstone's  self-denial  for  the 
African  made  England  think  of  Africa.  The  story 
of  Tanna  and  Aniwa  would  never  have  thrilled  all 
Christendom,  had  not  Paton  first  lived  it,  and  then 
told  it  in  his  simple  narrative.  No  field  ever  pro- 
duced more  martyrs  to  missions  than  the  pioneer 
work  among  the  islands  of  the  seas,  and  in  "Mod- 
ern Heroes  of  the  Mission  Fields"  we  may  read  of 


The  Island  World.  167 

several.  Rev.  John  Williams,  when  he  first  went 
to  Kara  tonga,  found  the  people  all  heathen,  and 
when  he  left  them  they  were  all  professed  Chris- 
tians. A  dark  and  bloody  idolatry,  with  all  its  hor- 
rid rites,  gave  way  to  the  triumphs  of  the  gospel, 
and  island  after  island  successively  embraced  Chris- 
tianity, until  not  one  group  or  island  of  importance 
could  be  found  within  two  thousand  miles  of  Tahiti, 
in  any  direction,  to  which  he  had  not  carried  the 
gospel.  This  hero  was  run  into  the  sea,  clubbed, 
and  his  life  ended  by  a  flight  of  arrows  from  some 
savages.  The  Bishop  of  Ripon  laid  down  the  story 
of  Williams's  missionary  career,  exclaiming:  "I 
have  now  been  reading  the  twenty-ninth  chapter  of 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles I" 

To  the  missionary  John  Hunt  belongs  the  honor 
of  giving  the  New  Testament  to  Fiji  in  its  native 
tongue.  He  made  known  everywhere  the  story  of 
peace,  traveling  eleven  hundred  miles  in  a  single 
twelve-month,  organizing  schools,  and  training 
promising  converts — of  whom  he  had  hundreds — as 
native  teachers.  This  man  of  strong  character  and 
fearless  will,  when  asked  in  England  to  go  as  a 
missionary  to  the  Fijians,  was  startled  by  the  ques- 
tion, and  begged  time  to  consider  it.  He  burst  into 
the  room  of  a  fellow-student  at  college,  and  in  quick, 
excited  tones  told  him  of  the  unexpected  proposal. 
His  friend,  thinking  only  of  the  hardships  and 
perils,  began  to  sympathize  with  him.  But  he  had 
not  read  the  secret  of   Hunt'ri  deep   emotion.      "O, 


168  Mission  Fields. 

that's  Dot  it!"  exclaimed  the  impassioned  youth. 
"I'll  tell  you  what  it  is:  that  poor  girl  in  Lincoln- 
shire will  never  go  with  me  to  Fiji — her  mother  will 
never  consent  to  it."  The  truth  was,  that  that 
strong,  noble  heart  of  his  had  been  linked  in  love, 
for  the  last  six  years,  with  the  heart  of  a  beautiful 
girl;  and  he,  whom  neither  cannibalism  nor  pagan- 
ism could  affright,  felt  dismayed  at  the  possibility 
of  being  parted  from  her  forever.  He  sat  down 
instantly  and  wrote  to  her.  His  heart  was  dis- 
tressed, and  he  moved  in  and  out  amongst  his  fellow- 
students  with  an  anxious  air.  But  as  quickly  as 
posts  could  travel,  came  back  the  reply  of  that 
noble  girl;  and  Hunt  burst  once  more  into  his 
friend's  chamber,  and,  with  beaming  face  aud  cheery 
voice,  exclaimed:  "It's  all  right!  She'll  go  with 
me  anywhere !" 

Bishop  Patteson,  of  Melanesia,  met  death  by  the 
hand  of  a  native  traitor.  His  body — there  it  lay ; 
and  his  face  wore  its  own  sweet  smile  of  love. 
There  were  five  wounds — no  more;  and  the  frond 
of  a  cocoanut-palm  was  fastened  on  the  lifeless 
breast.  It  was  all  unconsciously  that  his  murderers 
had  adopted  for  him  the  emblem  of  Christian  vic- 
tory. "To  have  known  such  a  man,"  writes  Max 
Muller,  "is  one  of  life's  greatest  blessings.  In  his 
life  of  purity,  unselfishness,  devotion  to  man,  and 
faith  in  a  higher  world,  those  who  have  eyes  to 
see  may  read  the  best,  the  most  real  'Imitatio 
Christi."' 


North  American  Indians.  169 


NORTH  AMERICAN  INDIANS. 

"While  we  send  our  missionaries  to  Africa, 
Asia,  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  let  us  not  forget 
the  poor  heathen  Indian  of  our  own  land." 

"I  knew  that  my  people  were  perishing,"  said 
an  American  Indian  chief,  who  had  walked  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  find  a  missionary.  "I 
never  looked  in  the  face  of  my  child  that  my  heart 
was  not  sick.  My  fathers  told  me  there  was  a  Great 
Spirit;  and  I  have  often  gone  to  the  woods  and 
tried  to  ask  him  for  help,  and  I  only  get  the  sound 
of  my  own  voice.  You  do  not  know  what  I  mean ; 
for  you  never  stood  in  the  dark,  and  reached  out 
your  hand,  and  took  hold  of  nothing." 

&    V  & 

The  total  Indian  population  of  the  United  States 
is  247,761.  The  number  of  Indian  Church  mem- 
bers in  the  United  States  is  28,663.  There  are 
only  81  missionaries  to  184,000  Indians.  Sixty- 
eight  tribes  have  neither  church  nor  missionary. 
Seventeen  thousand  Navajos  are  yet  untouched  by 
Christians.  Five  thousand  Apaches,  in  Arizona, 
are  absolutely  destitute  of  all  Christian  influence. 
There  are  seventeen  thousand  in  Wyoming  Territory 
still  heathen. 


170  Mission  Fields. 

The  250,000  Indians  of  the  United  States  are 
divided  into  a  hundred  different  tribes,  having  as 
many  languages,  and  settled  on  seventy  or  eighty 
reservations.  The  most  prominent  nations — the 
Cherokees,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Creeks,  and  Semi- 
noles — number  about  70,000,  and  are  known  as 
"  the  civilized  tribes,"  they  having  made  great  ad- 
vances in  civilization  during  the  seventy  years  of 
mission-work  among  them.  They  wear  ordinary 
dress,  live  in  houses,  and  are  engaged  in  farming 
and  stock-raising;  and  support  schools  of  their  own. 
Perhaps  from  one-fifth  to  one-half  of  the  whole 
number  of  Indians  in  the  United  States  may  be 
called  civilized. 

*}   f  £. 

Bishop  Whipple  related,  at  the  American  Mis- 
sionary Association,  the  following  narrative:  "I  can 
tell  you  the  story  of  Indian  missions  by  relating  one 
incident.  Some  years  ago  Bishop  Charles  Hervey 
went  with  me  to  the  Indian  country.  We  had  de- 
lightful services.  After  the  holy  communion  we 
were  sitting  on  the  green  sward  near  a  house.  The 
head  chief  said :  '  Your  friend  came  across  the  great 
water;  does  he  know  the  Indian's  history?'  I  sai<:!, 
'No.'  He  said:  'I  will  tell  him.  Before  the  white 
man  came,  the  forests  and  prairies  were  full  of 
game;  the  rivers  and  lakes  were  full  of  fish;  the 
wild-rice  was  Manitou's  gift  to  the  red  man.  Would 
you  like  to  see  one  of  these  Indians?'    There  stepped 


North  American  Indians.  171 

out  on  the  porch  an  Indian  man  and  woman,  dressed 
in  furs,  ornamented  with  porcupine-quills.  'There,' 
said  the  chief,  'my  people  were  like  those  before 
the  white  man  came.  Shall  I  tell  you  what  the 
white  man  did  for  us?  He  came  and  told  us  we 
had  no  fire-horses,  no  fire-canoes.  He  said  that 
if  we  would  sell  him  our  land  he  would  make 
us  like  white  men.  Shall  I  tell  you  what  he  did? 
No,  you  had  better  see  it?  The  door  opened,  and 
out  stepped  a  poor,  degraded-looking  Indian — his 
face  besmeared  with  mud,  his  blanket  in  rags,  no 
leggings,  and  by  his  side  a  poor,  wretched-looking 
woman,  in  a  torn  calico  dress.  The  chief  raised  his 
head,  and  said:  'Manido,  Manido,  is  this  an  In- 
dian?' The  man  bowed  his  head.  'How  came 
this?'  The  Indian  held  up  a  black  bottle,  and  said: 
'This  is  the  white  man's  gift.'  Some  of  us  bowed 
our  heads  in  shame.  Said  the  chief:  'If  this  were 
all,  I  would  not  have  told  you.  Long  years  ago,  a 
pale-faced  man  came  to  our  country.  He  spoke 
kindly,  and  seemed  to  want  to  help  us;  but  our 
hearts  were  hard.  We  hated  the  white  man,  and 
would  not  listen.  Every  summer,  when  the  sun  was 
so  high,  he  came.  We  ill  ways  looked  to  see  his  tall 
form  coming  through  the  forest.  One  year  I  said 
to  my  fellows:  "What  does  this  man  come  for?  He 
does  not  trade  with  us;  he  never  asks  anything  of 
us.  Perhaps  the  Great  Spirit  sent  him."  We 
stopped  to  listen.  Some  of  us  have  that  story  in 
our  hearts.     Shall  I  tell  you  what  il  has  done  for 


172  Mission  Fields. 

us?'  The  door  opened,  and  out  stepped  a  young 
man — a  clergyman — in  a  black  frock  coat,  and  by 
his  side  a  woman  neatly  dressed  in  a  black  alpaca 
dress.  Said  the  chief:  'There  is  only  one  religion 
in  the  world  which  can  lift  a  man  out  of  the  mire 
and  tell  him  to  call  God  Father,  and  that  is  the  re- 
ligion of  Jesus  Christ. '"  — Spikit  of  Missions. 

Far-off  Alaska,  with  a  territory  one-sixth  as 
large  as  the  United  States,  stretches  out  her  hands 
to  us  for  help.  Her  daughters — despised  by  their 
fathers,  sold  by  their  mothers,  ill-treated  by  their 
husbands,  cast  out  in  their  maidenhood,  living  lives 
of  toil,  untaught  and  uncared-for,  crushed  by  a 
cruel  heathenism,  with  no  hope  for  this  world  and 
no  hope  for  the  world  to  come — have  nowhere  else 
to  turn  for  sympathy  and  help  than  to  their  Chris- 
tian sisters.  "I  would  give  the  whole  world,"  cried 
an  Alaskan  woman — hiding  her  face  in  her  blanket — 
when  she  heard  of  heaven,  "if  I  could  only  have 
such  a  hope  on  my  dying  bed."  Unwelcomed  at 
her  birth;  unclean  and  uncared-for  during  the  first 
year  of  her  life;  rolled  up  in  a  padding  of  grass 
and  skin,  and  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the 
weather, — the  little  Alaskan  girl  has  a  hard  strug- 
gle for  life.  Female  infanticide  is  prevalent.  If 
the  parents  think  the  children  are  too  numerous, 
the  mother  murders  her  babe,  or  else  steals  away 
into  the  woods  at   dusk,  and  leaves  it  there  to  the 


North  American  Indians.  173 

mercy  of  wild  animals.  It  is  cruel  treatment;  but 
it  is  more  kiud  than  permitting  the  child  to  live 
and  be  despised  and  brutalized,  and  to  lead  a  life  of 
degradation  and  misery,  such  as  her  mother  lives. 
"Slavery,  vice,  misery,  abuse,  and  often  violent 
death  and  horrible  denial  of  burial — these  are  an 
Alaskan  woman's  portion,"  says  Mrs.  Julia  McNair 
Wright,  in  her  book  "Among  the  Alaskans."  "She 
expects  nothing  else;  hope  is  dead.  For  her  child 
there  is  nothing  better." 

The  wife,  persevering  and  industrious,  goes  fish- 
ing and  to  the  hunt  with  her  husband,  not  as  his 
companion,  but  as  the  drudge.  For  the  man  there 
is  a  bright  hereafter,  but  the  woman  has  no  hope. 
The  heart  sickens  at  the  tortures  of  the  women  who 
are  accused  of  being  witches. 

In  erecting  their  houses,  the  four  corner-posts 
are  planted  on  the  bodies  of  four  women,  slaugh- 
tered for  that  purpose.  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson  says: 
"If  the  houses  had  a  voice,  to  rehearse  the  scenes 
that  had  passed  before  them,  the  whole  world  would 
stand  aghast  and  be  horrified  at  the  cruelties  which 
it  was  possible  for  human  nature  to  gloat  over. 
When  those  great  corner-posts  were  placed  into  po- 
sition, a  slave  was  murdered  and  placed  under  each. 
When  the  houses  were  completed  and  occupied, 
scores  of  slaves  were  butchered,  to  show  the  power 
and  wealth  of  the  master,  whose  slaves  were  so 
plentiful  that  he  could  afford  to  kill  some  and  still 
have   plenty   left.      Founded    and    dedicated  writh 


174  Mission  Fields. 

human  sacrifices,  who  can  conceive  of  the  aggregate 
of  human  woe  and  suffering  in  those  habitations  of 
cruelty,  year  after  year,  at  their  wild  drunken 
orgies,  their  cauuibal  feasts,  their  torture  of  witches, 
their  fiendish  carousals  around  the  burning  dead, 
the  long  despairing  wails  of  lost  souls  as  they  pass 
out  into  eternal  darkness  !" 

Sfr  •••  * 

The  hardships  of  the  women  among  the  Cree 
Indians  in  British  America  are  not  much  less  than 
those  of  their  Alaskan  sisters.  A  missionary  says: 
"When  I  have  visited  the  wild  men,  I  have  seen 
the  proud  hunter  come  stalking  into  the  camp,  and, 
in  imperative  tones,  shout  out  to  his  poor  wife,  '  Gc 
back  on  my  tracks  in  the  woods,  and  bring  in  the 
deer  I  have  shot;  and  hurry,  for  I  want  my  food!' 
Seizing  a  long  carrying-strap,  she  rapidly  glides 
away  on  the  trail  made  by  her  husband's  snow-shoes, 
perhaps  for  three  miles.  Fastening  one  end  of  the 
strap  to  the  haunches  of  the  deer  and  the  other 
around  her  neck,  she  succeeds  in  getting  the  animal, 
which  may  weigh  from  a  hundred  to  two  hundred 
pounds,  upon  her  back.  Panting  with  fatigue,  she 
comes  in  with  her  heavy  burden.  The  poor  woman, 
although  almost  exhausted,  quickly  seizes  the  scalp- 
ing-knife,  and  deftly  skins  the  animal,  and  fills  a 
pot  with  the  savory  venison.  While  the  men  are 
rapidly  devouring  their  meal,  the  poor  woman  has 


North  American  Indians.  175 

her  first  moments  of  rest;    but  gets   nothing  to  eat 
until  the  men  have  finished  their  meal." 

When  the  poor  women  get  old  and  feeble,  very 
sad  and  deplorable  is  their  condition.  When  aged 
and  weak,  they  are  shamefully  neglected,  and  often 
put  out  of  existence! 

In  delightful  contrast  to  these  sad  sights  among 
the  degraded  savages  are  the  kindly  ways  and 
happy  homes  of  the  converted  Indians,  where  woman 
occupies  her  true  position,  and  is  well  and  lovingly 
treated. 

•»  •••  ft 

In  his  book,  "By  Canoe  and  Dog  Train,"  Rev. 
E.  R.  Young  is  a  most  fascinating  narrator  of  his 
missionary  life  among  the  Cree  and  Salteaux  In- 
dians. "At  times,"  he  says,  "we  were  surprised 
by  seeing  companies  of  pagan  Indians  stalk  into  the 
church  during  the  services,  not  always  acting  in  a 
way  becoming  to  the  house  or  day.  I  was  very 
much  astonished,  one  day,  by  the  entrance  of  an 
old  Indian,  called  Tapastonum,  who,  rattling  his  or- 
naments and  crying  'Ho!  ho!'  came  into  the  church 
in  a  sort  of  trot,  and  gravely  kissed  several  of  the 
men  and  women.  As  my  Christian  Indians  seemed 
to  stand  the  interruption,  I  felt  that  I  could.  Soon 
he  sat  down,  at  the  invitation  of  Big  Tom,  and 
listened  to  me.  He  was  grotesquely  dressed,  and 
had  a  good-sized  looking-glass  hanging  on  his  breast, 
kept  in  its  place  by  a  string  hung  around  bis  neck. 


176  Mission  Fields. 

To  aid  himself  in  listening,  he  lit  his  big  pipe,  and 
smoked  through  the  rest  of  the  service.  When  I 
spoke  to  the  people  afterwards  about  the  conduct 
of  this  man — so  opposite  to  their  quiet,  respectful 
demeanor  in  the  house  of  God — their  expressive, 
charitable  answer  was:  'Such  were  we  once,  as  igno- 
rant as  Tapastonum  is  now.  Let  us  have  patience 
with  him,  and  perhaps  he,  too,  will  soon  decide  to 
give  his  heart  to  God.  Let  him  come;  he  will  get 
quiet  when  he  gets  the  light." 

•»  .j.  «. 

Mr.  Young  tells  of  heroic  hearts  among  the 
converted  men  and  women  of  the  Cree  Indians. 
At  one  time,  on  account  of  pestilence,  many  isolated 
missionaries  and  traders,  and  other  whites  who  had 
gone  into  remoter  parts,  were  suffering  dire  priva- 
tions. Ringing  his  church-bell,  and  assembling  his 
people,  Mr.  Young  said  to  them:  "I  know  your 
race  on  this  continent  has  not  always  been  fairly 
treated;  but  never  mind  that.  Here  is  the  oppor- 
tunity for  you  to  do  a  glorious  act,  and  to  show 
that  you  can  make  sacrifices  and  run  risks  when 
duty  calls."  After  further  hearing  the  sad  circum- 
stances, the  Indians  agreed  to  go;  and  three  days 
after,  twenty  boats,  well  loaded  with  supplies,  each 
manned  by  eight  men,  started.  They  were  gone 
ten  weeks,  and  very  long  seemed  the  summer.  All 
returned  well  but  the  leader,  Samuel  Papanekis, 
and  on  him  the  strain  was  too  great. 


North  American  Indians.  177 

Pathetically,  Mr.  Young  recounts  a  visit  made 
the  next  winter  to  this  man's  widow,  to  whom  he 
said:  "Nancy,  you  seem  to  be  very  poor;  you  don't 
seem  to  have  anything  to  make  you  happy  and 
comfortable."  "Very  quickly  came  a  response," 
Mr.  Young  says,  "and  it  was  in  a  very  much  more 
cheery  strain  than  my  words  had  been:  'I  have  not 
much ;  but  I  am  not  unhappy,  Missionary.'  She 
had  no  venison,  no  flour,  no  tea;  I  asked  if  she 
had  potatoes.  When  this  last  question  of  mine  was 
uttered,  the  poor  woman  looked  up  at  me,  and  this 
was  her  answer:  'I  have  no  potatoes;  for  don't 
you  remember,  at  the  time  of  potato-planting,  Sam- 
uel took  charge  of  the  brigade  that  went  up  with 
provisions  to  save  the  poor  white  people?'  With 
my  heart  full,  I  said:  'What,  then,  have  you,  poor 
woman?'  She  replied:  'A  couple  of  fish-nets.?' 
1  And  what  do  you  do  when  it  is  too  stormy  to  visit 
the  nets?'  'We  go  without.'  To  hide  my  emotion 
and  keep  back  the  tears,  I  hurried  out  of  the  house 
to  get  her  some  supplies.  I  had  gone  but  a  few 
steps  when  the  word  '  Ayumeaookemon'  (Praying- 
master),  arrested  my  hurrying  steps.  It  was  Nancy, 
who  had  read  her  missionary's  heart,  and  said : 
1  Missionary,  I  do  not  want  you  to  feel  so  badly  for 
me.  It  is  true  I  am  very  poor;  it  is  true,  since 
Samuel  died,  we  have  often  been  hungry,  and  have 
often  suffered  from  the  bitter  cold, — but,  Missionary, 
you  have  heard  me  say  that  as  Samuel  gave  his 
heart  to  God,  so  have  I  given  God  my  heart;  and 
12 


178  Mission  Fields. 

he  who  comforted  Samuel  and  helped  him,  so  that 
he  died  so  happily,  is  my  Savior ;  and  where  Samuel 
has  gone,  by  and  by  I  am  going  too;  and  that 
thought  makes  me  happy  all  day  long.'" 

•»  •••  -K* 

RESPONSIVE   EXERCISES. 

Question.  What  is  the  total  Indian  population  of 
British  America  and  the  United  States? 

Answer.  In  British  America  there  are  100,000 
Indians;  and  about  280,000  in  the  United  States, 
including  Alaska. 

Q.  What  is  their  religion? 

A.  They  are  believers  in  some  kind  of  a  Great 
Spirit,  and  in  an  inferior  evil  being  who  is  hostile 
to  man.  They  believe  in  a  future  life;  in  the  trans- 
migration of  souls;  and  also  in  demons,  magic,  and 
witchcraft. 

Q.  What  one  good  trait  seems  universal  among 
them  ? 

A.  They  are  liberal,  giving  many  times  to  those 
who  are  poorer  than  themselves,  until  it  seems  as 
though  they  had  about  reached  the  same  level. 

Q.  What  does  one  writer  say  of  the  poetic  ele- 
ment, which  has  preserved  an  interest  in  the  Indian 
among  lettered  peoples? 

A.  "There  is  no  other  uncultured  race  which 
could  have  furnished  the  basal  structure  of  so  beau- 
tiful a  poem  as  '  Hiawatha.' " 


North  American  Indians.  179 

Q.  How  have  the  Indians  been  treated  by  white 
people? 

A.  They  have  been  robbed  of  their  lands,  and 
pushed  gradually  from  the  Atlantic  Coast  almost  to 
the  Pacific;  they  have  been  cheated,  massacred,  left 
to  die  of  starvation,  and  have  been  the  victims  of 
dishonest  and  cruel  traders  and  agents  who  were  set 
over  them,  until  they  have  come  almost  to  consider 
the  white  people  their  enemies. 

Q.  What  does  Bishop  Hare  say  of  Christianity 
among  the  Sioux  Indians? 

A.  "There  are  over  nine  Sioux  Indians  noblv 
working  in  the  sacred  ministry.  They  have  about 
forty  Sioux  Indians  as  their  helpers.  There  are 
forty  branches  of  women's  auxiliary  soeieties  among 
the  Sioux  Indian  women.  There  are  seventeen 
hundred  Sioux  Indian  communicants.  Sioux  In- 
dians are  contributing  nearly  $3, COO  annually  for 
religious  purposes!  But  what  impression  have  these 
cheering  facts  made  upon  the  public  mind  as  com- 
pared with  the  wild  antics  of  the  heathen  Sioux  In- 
dians, which  excited  the  attention  of  the  country,  and 
daily  occupied  column  after  column  of  the  news- 
papers for  weeks?" 

Q.  What  is  the  hope  for  the  continued  improve- 
ment of  the  Indian? 

A.  The  Christian  Churches  are  the  hope  of  the 
"red"  raca  The  marked  improvement  and  wonder- 
ful progress  of  the  Christian  Indians  over  the  others 
are  something  very  marvelous. 


180  Mission  Fields. 

Q.  Can  the  Indians  yet  do  without  our  aid? 

A.  By  no  means.  Besides  the  100,000  who 
may  be  called  civilized,  there  are  98,000  that  are 
wild,  only  coming  to  the  Government  agent  for  ra- 
tions and  blankets;  and  about  14,000  more  are 
called  roamers  or  vagrants,  as  they  have  no  settled 
home.  There  are  40,000  wild  Indiau  children  in 
our  country,  of  whom  but  ^2,000  are  gathered  in 
the  Government  and  mission  schools;  leaving  28,- 
000  children  to  whom  no  school  opens  its  doors,  and 
to  whom  no  missionary  goes. 


GIFTS 


The  Protestant  Churches  in  the  United  States 
spend  annually  for  home  work,  $80,000,000;  for 
foreign  work,  $4,000,000— one-twentieth.  While 
the  need  is  from  300  to  680  times  greater  in  the  for- 
eign field,  twenty  times  as  much  is  spent  in  the 
home  field. 

•*  •••  # 

The  sum  of  $80,000,000  is  expended  for  the 
evangelization  of  60,000,000  people— $1.33  each; 
$4,000,000  is  expended  for  the  evangelization  of 
1,181,000,000  people— one-third  of  a  cent  each. 

&  .;.  #, 

Nine-tenths  of  the  contributions  to  foreign 
missions  are  given  by  one-tenth  of  the  Church  mem- 
bership, while  only  one-half  of  the  membership  give 
anything.  The  average  amount  of  each  member  is 
fifty  cents  per  annum — only  the  seventh  part  of  a 
cent  a  day  for  the  conversion  of  a  thousand  mill- 
ions of  heathen.  An  average  of  five  cents  a  week 
from  every  member  of  the  Protestant  Churches  of 
the  United  States  would  bring  into  the  treasury, 
;luring  a   single   year,   $16,500,000.      Ninety-eight 

181 


182  Gifts. 

per  cent  of  the  Church's  contributions  for  religious 
purposes  is  spent  at  home,  while  only  two  per  cent 
is  sent  to  the  foreign  mission-field. 

■»  •••  «« 

A  recent  sermon  of  Canon  Farrar  applies  to 
America  as  well  as  to  Eugland.  "What  shall  I 
say  of  the  rich?"  he  asks.  "I  say  there  are  scores 
of  men  in  London  who  could  save  our  hospitals 
aud  Christian  enterprises  from  anxiety  almost  with- 
out feeling  it.  Look  at  the  recent  art  sales!  Ten 
thousand  dollars  for  one  dessert-service;  $6,000  for 
two  flower-pots;  $15,000  for  a  chimney  ornament; 
$50,000  for  two  vases;  $1,500  for  a  single  dress; 
$5,000  for  flowers  for  a  ball!  If  there  be  such  a 
Pactolus  of  wealth  for  these  things,  can  there  be  by 
comparison  only  a  drop  or  two  to  heal  the  bodies 
and  ameliorate  the  souls  of  men?"  Fifteen  million 
dollars'  worth  of  cut  diamonds  per  annum  are  re- 
quired by  the  United  States.  One  who  is  face  to 
face  with  heathenism,  and  often  passes  through  vil- 
lages of  from  100  to  500  inhabitants,  where  a  little 
prayer-house,  although  much  needed,  can  not  be 
built  for  want  of  only  $10  or  $15,  must  feel  deeply 
the  needless  expenditures  in  Christian  countries. 

Dion  Bouctcault  said:  "More  than  $200,- 
000,000  are  paid  every  year  by  the  American  peo- 
ple for  their    theatrical   entertainments."     All   the 


Gifts.  183 

Churches  in  the  world  are  spending  less  money  for 
foreign  missions  annually  than  the  theaters  of  the 
single  city  of  New  York  receive  every  year  from 
their  patrons. 

■»  •••  * 

Mrs.  Joseph  Cook  has  said:  "A  true  zeal  for 
missions  will  lead  any  one  to  do  something,  or  do 
without  something,  for  Jesus'  sake.  It  seems  to  me 
that  the  only  money  worthy  to  be  given  to  missions 
is  that  which  has  been  sacredly  laid  aside  for  that 
purpose,  and  laid  aside  at  some  cost." 

SUCH  GIFTS  AND  GIVERS  AS  GOD  LOVES. 

In  the  beautiful  island  of  Ceylon,  many  years 
ago,  the  native  Christians,  who  had  long  worshiped 
in  bungalows  and  old  Butch  chapels,  decided  that 
they  must  have  a  church  built  for  themselves.  En- 
thusiastic givers  were  each  eager  to  forward  the 
new  enterprise.  lint  to  the  amazement  of  all, 
Maria  Peabody— a  lone  orphan  girl,  who  had  been 
a  beneficiary  in  the  girls'  school  at  Oodooville— 
came  forward,  and  offered  to  give  the  land  upon 
which  to  build,  which  was  the  best  site  in  her  native 
village. 

Not  only  was  it  all  she  owned  in  this  world,  but 
far  more — it  was  her  marriage  portion;  and  in 
making  this  gift,  in  the  eyes  of  every  native,  she 
renounced  all  hopes  of  being  married.     As  this  al- 


184  Gifts. 

ternative  in  the  East  was  regarded  as  an  awful  step, 
many  thought  her  beside  herself,  and  tried  to  dis- 
suade her  from  such  an  act  of  renunciation.  "  No," 
said  Maria,  "I  have  given  it  to  Jesus;  and  as  he 
has  accepted  it,  you  must."  And  so  to-day  the  first 
Christian  church  in  Ceylon  stands  upon  land  given 
by  a  poor  orphan  girl. 

The  deed  was  noised  abroad,  and  came  to  the 
knowledge  of  a  young  theological  student,  who  was 
also  a  beneficiary  of  the  mission,  and  it  touched  his 
heart.  Neither  could  he  rest  until  he  had  sought 
and  won  the  rare  and  noble  maiden  who  was  willing 
to  give  up  so  much  in  her  Master's  cause. 

Some  one  in  the  United  States  had  been  for 
years  contributing  twenty  dollars  annually  for  the 
support  of  this  young  Hindu  girl,  but  the  donor 
was  unknown.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Poor,  a  missionary  in 
Ceylon,  visiting  America  abeut  that  time,  longed  to 
ascertain  who  was  the  faithful  sower,  and  report  the 
wonderful  harvest. 

Finding  himself  in  Hanover,  New  Hampshire, 
preaching  to  the  students  of  Dartmouth  College,  he 
happened  in  conversation  to  hear  some  one  speak  of 
Mrs.  Peabody,  and  repeated:  "Peabody!  What 
Peabody?"  "Mrs.  Maria  Peabody,  who  resides 
here,  the  widow  of  a  former  professor,"  was  the 
answer.  "O,  I  must  see  her  before  I  leave!"  said 
the  earnest  man,  about  to  continue  his  journey. 

The  first  words  after  an  introduction,  at  In  r 
house,  were:   "I  have   come   to    bring   you   a  glad 


Gifts.  .  185 

report;  for  I  can  not  but  think  that  it  is  to  you 
we,  in  Ceylon,  owe  the  opportunity  of  educating 
one  who  lias  proved  as  lovely  and  consistent  a 
native  convert  as  we  have  ever  had.  She  is  ex- 
ceptionally interesting,  devotedly  pious,  and  bears 
your  name." 

"Alas!"  said  the  lady,  "although  the  girl  bears 
my  name,  I  wish  I  could  claim  the  honor  of  edu- 
cating her;  it  belongs  not  to  me,  but  to  Louisa  Os- 
borne, my  poor  colored  cook.  Some  years  ago,  in 
Salem,  Massachusetts,  she  came  to  me,  after  an 
evening  meeting,  saying:  'I  have  just  heard  that  if 
anybody  would  give  twenty  dollars  a  year  they 
could  support  and  educate  a  child  in  Ceylon,  and  I 
have  decided  to  do  it.  They  say  that  along  with 
the  money  I  can  send  a  name,  and  I  have  come, 
Mistress,  to  ask  you  if  you  would  object  to  my  send- 
ing yours?'  At  that  time,"  continued  the  lady,  "a 
servant's  wages  ranged  from  a  dollar  to  a  dollar  and 
a  half  a  week,  yet  my  cook  had  for  a  long  time 
been  contributing  half  a  dollar  each  month  at  the 
monthly  concert  for  foreign  missions.  There  were 
those  who  expostulated  with  her  for  giving  away  so 
much,  for  one  in  her  circumstances,  as  a  time  might 
come  when  she  could  not  earn.  '  I  have  thought  it 
all  over,'  she  would  reply,  'and  concluded  I  would 
rather  give  what  I  can  while  I  am  earning;  and 
then  if  I  lose  my  health  and  can  not  work, 
why  there  is  the  poor-house,  and  I  can  go  there. 
You    see,    they    have    no    poor-house    in    heathen 


186  Gifts. 

lands,   for   it  is  only  Christians  who   care  for   the 
poor.'" 

In  telling  this  story,  Dr.  Poor  used  to  pause 
here,  and  exclaim:  "To  the  poor-house!  Do  you 
believe  God  would  ever  let  that  good  woman  die  in 
the  poor-house?     Never!     We  shall  see." 

The  missionary  learned  that  the  last  known  of 
Louisa  Osborne  was,  that  she  was  residing  in  Lowell, 
Mas'sachu setts.  In  due  time  his  duties  called  him 
to  that  city.  At  the  close  of  an  evening  service, 
before  a  crowded  house,  he  related  among  mission- 
ary incidents,  as  a  crowning  triumph,  the  story  of 
Louisa  Osborne  and  Maria  Peabody.  The  disinter- 
ested devotion,  self-sacrifice,  and  implicit  faith  and 
zeal  of  the  Christian  giver  in  favored  America  has 
been  developed,  matured,  and  well-nigh  eclipsed  by 
her  faithful  protegee  in  far-off,  benighted  India.  His 
heart  glowing  with  zeal,  and  deeply  stirred  by  the 
fresh  retrospect  of  the  triumphs  of  the  gospel  over 
heathenism,  he  exclaimed:  "If  there  is  any  one 
present  who  knows  anything  of  that  good  woman, 
Louisa  Osborne,  and  will  lead  me  to  her,  I  will  be 
greatly  obliged."  The  benediction  pronounced  and 
the  crowd  dispersing,  Dr.  Poor  passed  down  one  of 
the  aisles,  chatting  with  the  pastor,  when  he  espied 
a  quiet  little  figure  apparently  waiting  for  him. 
Could  it  be?  Yes,  it  was  a  colored  woman,  and  it 
must  be  Louisa  Osborne.  With  quickened  steps  he 
reached  her,  exclaiming,  in  tones  of  suppressed  emo- 
tion: "I  believe   that   this   is  my  sister  in  Christ, 


Gifts.  187 

Louisa  Osborne?"  "That  is  my  name,"  was  the 
calm  reply.  "Well,  God  bless  you,  Louisa!  You 
have  heard  my  report,  aud  know  all ;  but  before  we 
part,  probably  never  to  meet  again  in  this  world,  I 
want  you  to  answer  me  one  question.  What  made 
yuu  do  it?"  With  downcast  eyes,  and  in  a  low  and 
trembling  voice,  she  replied:  "  Well,  I  do  not  know, 
but  I  guess  it  was  my  Lord  Jesus!" 

They  parted,  only  to  meet  in  the  streets  of  the 
New  Jerusalem. 

The  humble  handmaiden  of  the  Lord  labored 
meekly  on  awhile,  and  is  end i eg  her  failing  day?, 
not  in  a  poor-house,  verily,  but,  through  the  efforts 
of  those  who  knew  her  best,  in  a  pleasant,  comfort- 
able old  ladies'  home.  "  Him  that  honoreth  me,  I 
will  honor."  —Intelligencer. 

The  teacher  of  an  African  school,  wanting  her 
girls  to  learn  to  give,  paid  them  for  any  work  they 
would  do  for  her,  so  that  each  one  might  have  some- 
thing of  her  own  to  give  towards  any  little  benevo- 
lence. Among  the  pupils  was  a  new  scholar. 
"Such  a  wild  and  ignorant  little  heathen,"  she  says, 
"that  I  did  not  try  to  explain  to  her  what  the  other 
girls  were  doing.  The  day  came  for  the  gifts  to  be 
handed  in.  Each  girl  brought  her  piece  of  money, 
and  laid  it  down.  I  thought  all  the  offerings  were 
given;  but  there  stood  the  new  scholar,  hugging 
tightly  in  her  anus  a  pitcher — the   only  thing   that 


188  Gifts. 

she  had  in  the  world.  She  went  to  the  table,  put 
it  among  the  other  gifts,  kissed  it,  and  turned  away. 
That  story  reminds  me  of  another,  about  One  who 
watched  and  still  watches  people  casting  gifts  into 
liis  treasury;  and  I  wondered  if  he  might  not  say 
of  the  little  African,  too,  'She  hath  cast  in  more 
than  they  ahY" 

•5*  •»•  ft 

JIM  AND  THE  MISSIONARY  MEETING. 

The  sun  had  already  set  when  Harrow,  the  cow- 
boy, rode  into  the  main  street  of  the  little  village 
of  Blue  Stem,  tied  his  pony  to  the  windmill  der- 
rick at  the  town-pump,  and  hurried  over  to  the 
store,  just  opposite,  to  buy  some  bacon  and  other 
articles  of  food,  such  as  the  rough  life  of  the  cow- 
boys demanded.  He  was  cook  for  the  gang;  and 
after  spending  some  time  in  laying  in  as  much  as 
he  thought  he  could  get  trusted  for,  he  walked  slowly 
out  of  the  store,  and  turned  up  the  street  in  the 
direction  opposite  to  that  taken  an  hour  or  more 
before  by  his  fellows  in  work  and  revelry. 

Jim  did  not  want  the  compauy  of  the  other 
herders  to-night.  The  pain  in  his  head,  and  his 
disgust  as  he  thought  of  the  last  night's  carousal — 
which  had  ended  with  a  demand  from  the  saloon- 
keeper for  money  due  him  as  he  thrust  Jim  into  the 
street — did  not  bring  any  wish  for  the  fellowship 
which    would   probably    repeat    his    experience   for 


Gifts.  189 

him.  He  was  sober  now,  and  he  wanted  to  keep 
sober,  for  a  time  at  least.  He  strolled  heavily  and 
moodily  along  some  distance  over  the  dilapidated 
board-walks,  thinking  about  his  debts — when  his 
aching  head  would  let  him  think  at  all — and  trying 
to  study  out  some  plan  for  relief,  when  the  thought 
came  to  him  to  run  off  a  few  of  the  cattle  to  a  dis- 
tant point,  sell  them,  and  then,  when  questioned  by 
the  owner,  swear  they  had  died  of  black-leg.  This 
was  risky,  but  he  had  seen  it  done  once  or  twice 
successfully.  Just  then  he  stepped  down  suddenly 
from  the  sidewalk,  and  nearly  pitched  over  on  his 
face;  and  was  thereby  reminded  that  the  sidewalk 
had  ended,  that  his  head  was  still  aching,  and  that 
the  burden  of  his  debt  was  not  yet  lifted. 

"I  mought  have  known,  by  the  sidewalk  stop- 
ping, there  was  a  church  here,"  said  Jim  to  himself, 
as  his  eyes  fell  upon  a  plain  white  building,  that 
stood  in  the  middle  of  an  unfenced  lot,  before  which 
he  was  standing.  "She's  lighted  for  business,  too. 
An'  now  they  are  at  it,"  as  the  strains  of  a  hymn 
came  through  the  open  door.  "I  'most  b'lieve  I'll 
go  in.  I'd  rather  be  in  there,  if  'tis  church,  than 
with  the  boys,  getting  drunk  and  playing  the  fool 
again." 

Jim  did  not  know  that  the  Broad  Valley  Asso- 
ciation of  Central  Nebraska  was  in  session  at  the 
Blue  Stem  Church,  and  that  the  good  people  of 
Blue  Stem  and  the  surrounding  country  had  been 
gathering  there  three  times  a  day  for  the  past  three 


190  Gifts. 

days.  If  he  had  known  this  fact,  bold  as  he  was, 
he  might  have  been  a  little  shy  about  entering  such 
a  condensed  moral  atmosphere  alone.  At  this  time, 
however,  the  church  was  a  haven  in  which  none 
other  of  his  kind  was  liable  to  anchor.  He  walked 
up  the  steps,  stood  by  the  door  until  his  eyes  caught 
sight  of  a  vacant  seat  near  him,  and  then  shuffled 
in  as  quickly  as  possible,  and  sat  down.  The  only 
other  occupant  of  the  pew — a  little  girl — eyed  him 
and  his  pistols  a  minute  or  two,  and  then  moved  a 
little  further  along  toward  the  other  end  of  the 
seat. 

After  the  singing  was  over,  the  chairman  gave 
out  as  a  topic  for  discussion,  "The  Pew  as  Seeu 
from  the  Pulpit,"  adding  that  "after  the  leader  had 
finished,  all  would  be  invited  to  take  part." 

Jim  thought  he  could  tell  them  a  thing  or  two 
about  how  the  pulpit  looked  from  the  pew,  the  Sun- 
day morning  he  shot  his  pistol  through  the  church- 
door  at  Slippery  Hollow;  but  he  simply  drew  up  his 
feet,  stretched  his  legs  out  upon  the  seat,  and  prepared 
for  a  good  comfortable  time  of  it.  "I'm  corraled  now, 
an'  I  may  as  well  take  it  easy,"  he  thought.  The  speaker 
began  with  a  few  crisp  sentences,  and  then  launched 
into  his  subject,  striking  right  and  left  at  the  sleepy 
heads,  the  noisy  inquisitive  ones,  and  the  loungers, 
with  such  raciness  that  Jim  was  soon  sitting  bolt 
upright,  and  listening  with  all  his  might.  "The 
boss  preacher,  and  no  mistake,"  was  his  mental 
comment;    and,  when   the  little   man  sat  down,  he 


Gifts.  191 

could  not  refrain  from  giving,  by  way  of  approval, 
several  vigorous  thumps  upon  the  floor  with  his 
heels,  much  to  the  consternation  of  a  few  in  the 
audience  who  knew  him. 

A  little  further  discussion  of  the  subject  followed, 
aud  then  it  was  given  out  that  the  remainder  of  the 
evening  would  be  given  up  to  the  "Women's  Mis- 
sionary Society."  A  band  of  little  girls,  under  the 
direction  of  a  lady  seated  at  the  organ,  filed  upon 
the  stage.  Each  represented  a  flower,  and  spoke  a 
piece;  then  all  distributed  through  the  audience  the 
flowers  which  they  carried.  The  very  smallest  of 
them  all  gave  one  to  Jim.  This  was  a  feature  of 
Church  entirely  new  to  him,  and  something  seemed 
to  smite  him  as  he  took  the  flowers  in  his  great 
clumsy  fingers.  Nobody  here  owed  him  any  favors, 
and  why  should  he  be  noticed  as  others  were?  His 
very  roughness  appeared  to  him,  and  made  him 
sensitive;  and  what  to  another  would  have  been  an 
insignificant  happening,  touched  him  where  he 
thought  there  was  no  feeling. 

While  he  was  thinking  soberly  of  this  incident, 
a  lady  stood  up  to  read — au  earnestdooking,  clear- 
voiced  woman  it  was — who  began:  "How  much 
owTest  thou  unto  my  Lord?"  The  room  was  very 
quiet  as  she  read ;  for  it  seemed  as  if  some  one  were 
being  arraigned,  so  direct  and  personal  was  the 
question.  She  asked  in  her  pleasant  way  again : 
"How  much  owest  thou  unto  my  Lord?  Have  you 
never   thought   of   it — the   debt  to   my  Lord,  your 


192  Gifts. 

Lord,  the  Lord  who  bought  us?  Have  you  paid 
this  debt  of  gratitude  ?" 

Nothing  was  said  about  making  money,  no  men- 
tion of  what  are  usually  called  debts;  but  "how 
much  do  you  owe  for  the  things  which  money  can 
not  buy — the  life  you  enjoy,  the  loving  kindness 
and  tender  mercies  with  which  you  are  crowned? 
Have  you  given  but  the  cup  of  cold  water  in  His 
name  when  you  had  the  chance?"  A  little  more, 
and  she  finished;  but  the  effect  of  the  few  simple 
words  was  felt;  and  when  the  speaker  sat  dowu, 
one  after  another  arose  to  speak.  Each  owed  more 
than  he  could  pay,  and  each  felt  his  poverty. 

The  same  impulse  which  made  them  humble 
was  lifting  them  upon  a  higher  plane  and  into  a 
purer  atmosphere.  It  was  hardly  a  surprise  to  them 
when  the  cowboy  rose  from  his  seat,  and  took  ad- 
vantage of  their  invitation  to  speak ;  for  who  could 
have  been  there  and  not  felt  the  striving  of  the 
Holy  One?  They  turned  to  look  at  him  as  he 
began. 

"  I  'm  not  straight  like  the  rest  of  ye.  I  have  n't 
been  as  white  as  I  had  orter  been.  I  'm  a  cowboy. 
I  've  this  to  say,  though :  I  want  to  pay  my  debts. 
The  lady  has  told  me  o' One  I  did  n't  know  about; 
and  Jim  Harrow  's  not  the  boy  to  sit  still  when  he  's 
in  debt." 

The  meeting  was  soon  over.  They  tried  to  get 
at  him,  and  talk  with  him;  but  the  cowboy  was 
goue.     The   message   had  reached  him,  and  was  in- 


Gifts.  193 

terpreted.  It  was  not  for  them,  at  that  time,  to 
hear  the  answer;  but  out  upon  the  prairie,  with 
none  but  his  pony  and  his  God,  the  cowboy  knelt, 
for  the  first  time  in  his  life,  and  uttered  his  broken 
petition : 

"0  Lord,  I'm  owin'  many,  but  I've  gone  ag'in' 
ye  worst  of  all.  I  've  nothin'  to  pay  ye  with,  but 
I've  come  to  ye.    She  said  ye  was  merciful.    Amen." 

As  the  wind  whispered  to  the  grassy  wilderness, 
so  the  "still,  small  voice"  breathed  upon  the  soul  of 
the  cowboy,  and  there  was  peace.  The  problem  of 
debt  and  credit  was  settled.  —The  Observes. 

THE  GIVING  ALPHABET. 

All  things  come  of  thee,  and  of  thine  own  have 
we  given  thee.     (1  Chron.  xxiv,  14.) 

Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse,  that 
there  may  be  meat  in  mine  house,  and  prove  me 
now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will  not 
open  you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you  out 
a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to 
receive  it     (Mai.  iii,  10.) 

Charge  them  that  are  rich  in  this  world  .  .  . 
that  they  do  good,  that  they  be  rich  in  good  works, 
ready  to  distribute,  willing  to  communicate.  (1  Tim. 
vi,  17,  18.) 

Do  good  unto  all  men,  especially  unto  them  who 
are.  of  the  household  of  faith.     (Gal.  vi,  10). 
13 


194  Gifts. 

Every  man  according  as  he  purposeth  in  his 
heart,  so  let  him  give;  not  grudgingly,  or  of  neces- 
sity.    (2  Cor.  ix,  7.) 

Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give.  (Matt. 
x,8.) 

God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.     (2  Cor.  ix,  7.) 

Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and  with 
the  first  fruits  of  thine  increase.     (Pro v.  iii,  9.) 

If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted 
according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not  according  to 
that  he  hath  not.     (2  Cor.  viii,  12.) 

Jesus  said,  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re- 
ceive.    (Acts  xx,  35.) 

Knowing  that  whatsoever  good  thing  any  man 
doeth,  the  same  shall  he  receive  of  the  Lord,  whether 
he  be  bond  or  free.     (Eph.  vi,  8.) 

Lay  not  up  for  yourselves  treasures  upon  earth, 
where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where 
thieves  break  through  and  steal;  but  lay  up  for 
yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither  moth 
nor  rust  doth  corrupt,  and  where  thieves  do  not 
break  through  nor  steal.     (Matt,  vi,  19,  20.) 

My  little  children,  let  us  not  love  in  word,  neither 
in  tongue,  but  in  deed  and  in  truth.  (1  John 
iii,  18.) 

Now  concerning  the  collection  for  the  saints  .  .  . 
upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  every  one  of  you 
lay  by  in  store  as  God  hath  prospered  him.  (1  Cor. 
xvi,  1,  2.) 


Gifts.  195 

Of  all  that  thou  shalt  give  me,  I  will  surely 
give  the  tenth  to  thee.      (Gen.  xxviii,  22.) 

Provide  yourselves  bags  which  wax  not  old,  a 
treasure  in  the  heavens  that  faileth  not,  where  no 
thief  approacheth,  neither  moth  corrupteth.  (Luke 
xii,  33.) 

Quench  not  the  Spirit.     (1  Thess.  v,  19.) 

Render  unto  God  the  things  that  are  God's. 
(Matt,  xxii,  21.) 

See  that  ye  abound  in  this  grace  also.  (2  Cor. 
viii,  2.) 

The  silver  is  mine,  and  the  gold  is  mine,  saith 
the  Lord  of  hosts.     (Haggai  ii,  8.) 

Unto  whomsoever  much  is  given,  of  him  shall 
be  much  required.     (Luke  xii,  48.) 

Vow,  and  pay  unto  the  Lord  your  God.  (Psa. 
lxxvi,  11.) 

Whoso  hnth  this  world's  goods,  and  seeth  his 
brother  have  uoed,  and  shutteth  up  his  bowels  of 
compassion  from  him,  how  dwelleth  the  love  of  God 
in  him?     (1  John  iii,  17.) 

'Xcept  your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  right- 
eousness of  the  scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no 
case  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  (Matt. 
v,  20.) 

Ye  know  the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 
(2  Cor.  viii,  9.) 

Zion  that  briugest  good  tidings.   (Isa.  xl,  9.) 


196  Gifts. 


BIBLE  RULES  FOR  GIVING. 

Question.  What  did  the  Lord  Jesus  say  about 
giving? 

Answer.  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  re- 
ceive.    (Acts  xx,  35.) 

Q.   What  kind  of  a  giver  does  God  love? 

A.  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.     (2  Cor.  ix,  7.) 

Q.  How  have  we  received,  and  how  should  we 
give? 

A.  Freely  ye  have  received,  freely  give.  (Matt, 
x,  8.) 

Q.  How  much  should  we  give? 

A.  Thou  shalt  give  unto  the  Lord  thy  God  ac- 
cording as  the  Lord  thy  God  hath  blessed  thee. 
(Deut.  xvi,  10.) 

Q.  What  is  the  least  that  we  should  give? 

A.  Of  all  that  thou  shalt  give  me,  I  will  surely 
give  the  tenth  unto  thee.     (Gen.  xxv,  22.) 

Q.   How  are  our  gifts  accepted? 

A.  If  there  be  first  a  willing  mind,  it  is  accepted 
according  to  that  a  man  hath,  and  not  according  to 
that  he  hath  not.     (2  Cor.  viii,  12.) 

Q.  How  should  we  honor  the  Lord? 

A.  Honor  the  Lord  with  thy  substance,  and 
with  the  first  fruits  of  thine  increase.  (Prov. 
iii,9.) 

Q.  What  promise  does  God  make  to  such? 

A.  So  shall  thy  barns  be  filled  with  plenty,  and 


Gifts.  197 

thy  presses  shall  burst  out  with  new  wine.     (Prov. 
iii,  10.) 

Q.  What  is  said  of  him  that  pities  the  poor? 
A.  He  that  hath  pity  upon  the  poor  lendeth  unto 
the  Lord;  and  that  which  he  hath  given  will  he  pay 
•  him  again.     (Prov.  xix,  17.) 
Q.  How  shall  we  give? 

A.  Every  man  according  as  he  purposeth  in  his 
heart,  so  let  him  give;  not  grudgingly,  or  of  neces- 
sity; for  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver.  (2  Cor. 
ix,  7.) 

Q.  From  whom  does  God  accept  offerings? 
A.  Of    every    man    that    giveth    it    willingly, 
with   his  heart,  ye  shall  take   my  offering.     (Ex. 
xxv,  2.) 

Q.  What  promise  is  given  to  those  who  consider 
the  poor? 

A.  Blessed  is  he  that  considereth  the  poor;  the 
Lord  will  deliver  him  in  time  of  trouble.  (Psalm 
xli,  1.) 

Q.  What  measure  shall  be  given  to  those  who 
give  liberally? 

A.  Give,  and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you ;  good 
measure,  pressed  down,  and  shaken  together,  and 
running  over,  shall  men  give  into  your  bosom.  For 
with  the  same  measure  that  ye  mete  withal  it  shall 
be  measured  to  you  again.     (Luke  vi,  38.) 

Q.  What  command  does  God  give  about  the 
poor  ? 

A.  Thou  shalt  open  thine  hand  wide  unto  thy 


198  Gifts. 

brother,  to  thy  poor,  and  to  thy  needy  in  thy  land. 
(Deut.  xv,  11.) 

Q.  What  about  the  first  fruits? 

A.  The  first  of  the  first  fruits  of  thy  land  thou 
shalt  bring  iuto  the  house  of  the  Lord  thy  God. 
(Ex.  xxiii,  19.)  —Mrs.  W.  E.  Knox. 


CONCLUSION. 


Eloquently  Dr.  Judson  Smith  writes  in  the  Ms- 
sionary  Herald:  "From  Africa's  teeming  tribes, 
from  India's  perishing  multitudes,  from  China's 
mighty  millions,  from  Japan's  throbbing  life,  from 
every  soul  among  the  thousand  millions  that  know 
not  God,  the  cry  of  despair — its  inarticulate  cry  for 
help — goes  up.  This  weary  world,  in  all  its  conti- 
nents, with  all  its  nations,  wants  to  know  more  of 
Christ's  message,  and  of  that  love  which  stoops  from 
heaven  to  cleanse  sin  and  chase  away  sorrow.  China 
has  no  sorrow  that  his  message  can  not  cure;  Iudia 
has  no  problem  it  can  not  solve;  Japan,  no  question 
it  can  not  answer;  Africa,  no  darkness  it  can  not 
dispel.  The  cry  of  the  pagan  world  for  help  has 
resounded  in  every  generation  since  history  began. 
It  ascends — a  pleading,  pathetic  cry — resistless  in  its 
very  helplessness.  No  Christian  heart  can  refuse  to 
hear  it;  and  no  Christian  heart  can  hear  it  and  re- 
frain from  prayer  and  pity.  If  we  love  Him,  we 
shall  go  in  person,  or  by  our  gifts,  to  every  land 
and  city  and  home  whither  his  feet  are  moving, 
with  him  to  plead  and  pray  and  win  to  life." 

"On  the  Ganges  one  night,"  said  a  missionary, 
"I  saw  a  Hindu  pushing  a  number  of  little  bam- 

199 


200  Conclusion. 

boo  boats  out  on  the  water,  each  with  a  little  light 
in  it,  and  I  asked  him  what  they  were  for.  '  O,' 
he  replied,  'they  are  each  for  a  relative  who  has 
died,  that  he  may  have  some  light  in  that  dark 
world  he  has  gone  to.  This  one  is  my  light.  We 
have  all  got  to  go,  and  so  we  push  these  lights  out 
on  the  river  that  we  may  have  a  little  light 
beyond.'" 

God  has  given  each  of  us  a  little  light,  and  he 
means  that  we  shall  put  it  out,  in  our  little  earthen 
vessels,  all  over  the  sea  of  life,  to  show  others  the 
path  that  leads  to  him. 

A  touching  story  comes  from  Madagascar. 
The  people  of  a  place  named  Tankay,  who  had 
never  received  instruction  in  Christian  things,  but 
had  simply  heard  the  word  "  praying,"  and  knew 
that  people  who  did  that  met  together,  agreed 
among  themselves  to  meet  in  one  place.  No  one 
of  their  number  was  able  to  read  or  tell  anything 
about  the  gospel.  They  had  bought  a  New  Testa- 
ment in  Imerina;  but  that  lay  unopened,  since  no 
one  could  read  it.  On  Sunday  they  met  in  one 
house,  and  placed  the  Testament  in  their  midst. 
No  one  could  read,  no  one  could  sing  or  pray ;  and 
so  they  sat  for  a  time  in  silence.  When  all  were 
assembled,  one  of  the  chief  men  stood  up,  and 
asked:  "Have  all  come  from  the  north?"  "Ay," 
answered   they   all.      "Have   all    come  from   the 


Conclusion.  201 

south?"  "Ay."  And  so  on  from  the  east  and 
the  west.  "Then  let  us  break  up,  for  we  have  all 
done  our  duty,"  said  the  chief;  "but  be  sure  and 
come  early  next  Sunday." 

It  has  passed  into  a  saying  in  Madagascar — to 
describe  assemblies  in  which  there  is  no  teacher,  but 
where  the  people  meet  for  religious  service  like  the 
worship  of  the  Tankay  people — "Let  us  go  home, 
for  we  have  all  done  our  duty."  These  men,  grop- 
ing so  pitifully  in  the  dark,  may  have  done  their 
duty.     AVhat  of  ours  to  them  ? 

"Missionary,"  said  a  savage,  stalwart-looking 
Indian,  "gray  hairs  here,  and  grandchildren  in  the 
wigwam,  tell  me  that  I  am  getting  to  be  an  old 
man ;  and  yet  I  never  before  heard  such  things  as 
you  have  told  us  to-day.  I  am  so  glad  I  did  not 
die  before  I  heard  this  wonderful  story.  Yet  I  am 
getting  old.  Gray  hairs  here,  and  grandchildren 
yonder,  tell  the  story.  Stay  as  long  as  you  can, 
Missionary;  tell  us  much  of  these  things;  and  when 
you  have  to  go  away,  come  back  soon;  for  I  have 
grandchildren,  and  I  have  gray  hairs,  and  may  not 
live  many  winters  more." 

He  turned  as  though  he  would  go  back  to  his 
place,  and  sit  down;  but  he  only  went  a  step  or  two 
ere  he  turned  round,  and  faced  me,  and  said: 

"Missionary,  may  I  say  more?" 

"Talk  on,"  I  said;  "I  am  here  now  to  listen." 


202  Conclusion. 

"You    said,  just    now,    'Notawenan'"    ("Our 

Father"). 

"Yes,"  I  said,  "I  did  say,  'Our  Father.'" 

"That  is  very  new  and  sweet  to  us,"  he  said. 
"We  never  thought  of  the  Great  Spirit  as  Father. 
We  heard  him  in  the  thunder,  and  saw  him  in  the 
lightning  and  tempest  and  blizzard,  and  we  were 
afraid.  So,  when  you  tell  us  of  the  Great  Spirit  as 
Father — that  is  very  beautiful  to  us." 

Hesitating  a  moment,  he  stood  there,  a  wild, 
picturesque  Indian;  yet  my  heart  had  strangely 
gone  out  in  loving  interest  and  sympathy  to  him. 
Lifting  up  his  eyes  to  mine  again,  he  said: 

"May  I  say  more?" 

"Yes,"  I  answered;   "say  on." 

"You  say,  '  iYo-tawenan'  ("  Our  Father").  He 
is  your  Father?" 

"Yes,  he  is  my  Father." 

Then  he  said,  while  his  eyes  and  voice  yearned 
for  the  answer : 

"Does  it  mean  he  is  my  Father — poor  Indian's 
Father?" 

"Yes,  O  yes!"  I  exclaimed;  "he  is  your 
Father,  too." 

"Your  Father — Missionary's  Father — and  In- 
dian's Father,  too?"  he  repeated. 

"Yes,  that  is  true,"  I  answered. 

"Then  we  are  brothers?"  he  almost  shouted  out. 

"Yes,  we  are  brothers,"  I  replied. 

The  excitement    in    the    audience    had    become 


Conclusion.  203 

something  wonderful.  When  our  conversation  with 
the  old  man  had  reached  this  point,  and  in  such  an 
unexpected  and  yet  dramatic  manner  had  so  clearly 
brought  out,  not  only  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  but 
the  oneness  of  the  human  family,  the  people  could 
hardly  restrain  their  expressions  of  delight. 

The  old  man,  however,  had  not  yet  finished  ; 
and  so,  quietly  restraining  the  most  demonstrative 
ones,  he  again  turned  to  me,  and  said: 

"May  I  say  more?" 

"Yes,  say  on  ;  say  all  that  is  in  your  heart." 

Never  can  I  forget  his  last  question.  It  is  the 
question  that  millions  of  weary,  longing  souls,  dis- 
satisfied with  their  false  religions,  are  asking: 

"Missionary,  I  do  not  want  to  be  rude,  but  why 
has  my  white  brother  been  so  long  time  in  coming 
with  that  Great  Book  and  its  wonderful  story?" 

— Egektoh  R.  Young. 


s\^mzdm->sJ^       r>.       /-*,       r-%       r^       r> 

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That  Boy:    Who  Shall  Have  Him?     By  Rev.  \V. 
H.  Daniels,  A.  M. 

i2ino.     Cloth.    43J.  pages,    go  cents. 

A  thrilling  story.  Characters  strong  and  well  wrought  out.  It 
pictures  the  revolt  of  thoughtful  minds  against  the  ultra  Calvinism 
of  a  generation  ago.  The  equally  irrational,  and,  to  honest  minds, 
distasteful  liberalism  which  seeks  to  place  Shakespeare  and  other 
human  writers  and  characters  on  a  level  with,  if  not  a  little  above, 
Christ  and  the  Bible.  And  at  last  in  Klder  Hooper's  rugged,  manly 
faith,  it  illustrates  the  power  of  the  simple  Gospel  to  transform 
life  and  glorify  death.  Its  hero  passes  through  all  these  phases  of 
religious  (?)  thought  and  life,  until  he  comes  to  rest  in  the  Gospel 
as  taught  by  the  rugged  pioneer  itinerant,  and  settles  the  question 
of  the  title  of  the  volume  by  giviug  himself  to  God  for  his  work. 

A  Summer  in  the  Rockies.     By  Anna  E.  Woodbridge. 

i6mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated,    j.//  pages,     go  cents. 

The  story  of  a  summer  vacation  spent  in  the  West,  in  which  the 
many  episodes  incidental  to  such  a  trip  are  mingled  with  a  study 
of  the  animals  and  birds  and  plants  of  that  interesting  section  of 
the  continent.    A  fascinating  and  instructive  book. 

Jesse  and  Ray;  or,  Recreations  in  Natural  History. 
For  Boys  and  Girls.     By  the  same  author. 
j 6 mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated.    JJ J  pages,     yj  cents. 

A  companion  volume  to  the  above,  representing  the  same  family 
engaged  in  the  interesting  study  of  nature  at  their  home. 

Stories   of    Patriotism    and    Devotion.     Translated 

from  the  French.     By  Mrs.  Belle  Tevis  Speed. 

i6mo.     Cloth.     Illustrated.    323  pages,     go  cents. 

"From  the  heroic  age  to  the  present  date  one  prevailinj 
has  held   universal   sway,  even  amid   ridicule  and   censure.     Men, 
women,   and   children    love   anecdotes    and    short    recitals    of    the 
pathetic,  the  tragic,  or  the  beautiful." — Extract  from  Preface. 

CRANSTON  &  CURTS,  Publishers, 

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Combine  Pleasure  with  Study. 


After  the  Truth.     By  Mrs.  S.  M.  I.  Henry. 

4   vols.     1 6 mo.      Cloth.      Nearly  300  pages  each.     Per 
volume,  6o  cents. 

Vol.  I.  FINDING  THE  TRUTH. 

Vol.  2.  TKACHIXG  THE  TRUTH. 

Vol.  -v  USING  THE  TRUTH. 

Vol.  4.  THE  HUSBANDMAN. 
A  most  valuable  series  for  the  Home,  League,  or  Sunday-school 
library.  They  teach  the  value  of  the  commonest  things  of  every- 
day life,  in  illustrating  the  most  valuable  truths,  and  so  suggest  an 
inexhaustible  source  of  entertainment  and  instruction.  A  very 
interesting  story  runs  through  them  all,  and  helps  to  fascinate 
young  minds. 

Lena  ;  or,  The  Stark  Family.  A  Sketch  of  Real 
Life.  From  the  Swedish  of  H.  Hofsten.  By 
Carl  Larsen. 

1 67}io.     Clot  ft.     247  pages.     60  cents. 

The  beautiful  story  of  a  family  of  wealth  and  refinement,  por- 
traying the  follies  and  sins  of  fashionable  society,  and  the  power  of 
divine  grace  to  keep  the  life  pure  and  strong  amid  the  most  subtle 
temptations.    A  splendid  book  for  a  young  man  or  woman. 

A  Visit  to  the  Bjorkheda  Parsonage.  Also  from  the 
Swedish  of  H.  Hofsten. 

121110.     Cloth.     273  pages.    90  cents. 

Lessons  of  usefulness  gleaned  from  the  busy  life  which  cen- 
tered in  the  home  of  the  pastor  of  a  village  in  Sweden,  and  inci- 
dentally the  power  of  Christian  sympathy  to  win,  and  of  divine 
grace  to  subdue  and  transform,  the  most  debased  soul.  A  charming, 
helpful  story. 

Ethel  Linton ;  or,  The  Feversham  Temper.  By 
E.  A.  W. 

1 6 mo.  Cloth.  317  pages.  60  cents. 
This  interesting  story  illustrates  the  evil  wrought  by  an  unfor- 
giving spirit,  like  the  hereditary  trait  known  as  "The  Eeversham 
Temper."  It  also  shows  the  blessed  fruits  of  forgiveness  and  recon- 
ciliation, when  grace  has  wrought  its  transformation.  It  abounds 
in  touching  incidents  and  helpful  lessons,  and  is  thoroughly  spirit- 
ual throughout. 

CRANSTON  &  CURTS,  Publishers, 

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The  Path  of  Life ;   Or,  Sketches  of  the  Way  to 

Glory  and  Immortality.    By  Daniel  Wise,  D.  D. 

i6mo.     Cloth.     246  pages.     6a  cents. 

We  have  offered  many  prayers  over  these  pages,  and 
now  send  them  forth  to  the  world,  not  without  hope  that 
the  Head  of  the  Church  will  use  them  to  help  his  latest- 
born  disciples  in  their  doubtful  wray  to  his  eternal  king- 
dom.— Preface. 

The  Religion  of  the  Family.  By  I.  W.  Wiley,  D.  D., 
late  one  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

i6mo.     Cloth.     Gilt.     231  pages.     60  cents. 

If  we  can  confirm  and  deepen  the  convictions  of  wise 
and  good  people  with  regard  to  the  sacredness  of  mar- 
riage, its  inviolability,  except  in  accordance  with  God's 
law,  and  of  the  permanency  and  moral  relations  of  its 
claims  and  obligations,  we  shall  have  accomplished  our 
object. — Author,  in  Preface. 

Diamond  Dust.     By  Mrs.  Jennie  Fowler  Willing. 

i6dio.     Cloth.     242  pages.     60  cents. 

"  We  can  be  genuinely  useful  only  when  we  work  in 
line  with  the  purpose  of  God.  He  renders  the  best  serv- 
ice who  does  most  to  hasten  the  coining  of  the  kingdom, 
be  it  by  the  conquest  of  an  empire  or  the  conversion  of 
a  child." — Extract  from  Diamond  Dust. 

Living   in    Earnest :   With  Lessons  and  Incidents 
from  the  Lives  of  the  Great  and  Good.    A  Book 
for  Young  Men.     By  Joseph  Johnson. 
i6mo.    .Cloth.     264  pages.    43  cents. 

CRANSTGN  &  CURTS,  Publishers. 

cnarciaraT-A.'Z'i,  ckicago,  ear.  iovis. 


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y  Vjx  XJX  X.j>  XJx  XJX  X£kX)XX|X  XJXXJXXJX  XJX  X|>-  xjx  ^^x 

What  God  does  is  well  done.     From  the  German 

of  Salzman.     By  Miss  E.  T.  Disosway. 

121110.     Cloth.    304  pages.     60  cents. 

The  lesson  taught  in  the  following  pages  is  that  of  trust  in  the 
Divine  Providence.  Many  clouds  cover  the  sky,  but  the  sun  shines 
beyond  them,  and  though  the  eye  of  the  body  does  not  see  it,  the 
eye  of  faith  looks  beyond  to  the  clear  light.— Extract  from  Preface. 

Three    Christmas   Eves.     From  the  German.     By 

Mrs.  Cornelia  McFadden. 

161110.     Cloth.    3/3  pages.     73  cents. 

The  family  of  a  German  forester  is  bereft  of  the  husband  and 
father  by  an  accident.  The  struggles  of  the  faithful  mother  to  keep 
and  educate  her  son  and  daughter,  the  struggle  of  the  children 
with  the  temptations  of  life,  the  final  happy  denouement,  form  the 
plot  of  an  interesting  story,  into  which  is  woven  many  a  valuable 
lesson.  One  of  our  best  books  for  the  home  or  Sunday-school 
library. 

The  Parsonage  in  India.     By  the  same  author. 

161110.     Cloth.     297  pages.     60  cents. 

A  storv  of  thrilling  interest,  opening  in  the  house  of  a  German 
pastor,  in  a  quiet  Rhine  village.  The  pastor  is  called  to  the 
charge  of  a  foreign  missionary  society,  and  a  noble  daughter  at 
last  gives  herself  to  missionary  work  in  India,  and  leaves  her 
home  for  that  work.  Then  follow  thrilling  pictures  of  Indian  life 
in  the  davs  when  missionary  work  was  perilous,  including  the 
Sepoy  Rebellion,  with  its  scenes  of  carnage.  It  is  splendid  mis- 
sionary reading,  and  ought  to  have  a  place  among  the  best  worn 
books  "of  the  Sunday-school  library. 

Patient  Susie  ;  or,  Paying  the  Mortgage.     By  Julia 
K.  Bloomfield. 

1 61110.     Cloth.    263  pages.    60  cents. 

"  Be  strong  to  bear,  O  heart ; 

Nothing  is  vain. 
Strive  not ;  for  life  is  care, 

And  God  sends  pain. 
Heaven  is  above,  and  there 

Rest  will  remain." 


CRANSTON  &  CURTS,  Publishers, 

CIlTCIlTITiLTI,    C33nCC-A.GO,   ST.    X-QT^TIS. 


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